


Pick Me

by Musafir



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Batfamily Feels, Bruce Wayne is a Good Dad, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2018-12-31 18:57:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12138972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musafir/pseuds/Musafir
Summary: In which Tim deals with his growing feelings for Dick by running into Kon's open arms and Bruce wishes his boys would act like the detectives they claim to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another A/B/O fic! I didn't intend to write it, but it practically wrote itself so I figured why not! Enjoy!

Dick leaned down and chastely kissed the back of TIm’s quivering neck.

 

“Same time next month babybird,” he whispered.

 

Tim tried to control his breathing as Dick got up off him and started to move around. His heart was still pounding in time to Dick’s phantom thrusts. He could feel the last vestiges of his heat finally begin to fade away as the sweat cooled on his body and blissfully cold air rushed in to fill spaces all along his back that Dick vacated.

 

Tim startled as a damp cloth touched his body, but obediently stayed still for Dick to help clean up the mess. Without looking, he accepted the pill and bottle of water, downing both in quick efficient swallows.

 

Dick gave a light swat to his flank when he was done and Tim felt around for the blanket before rolling over on the bed and covering himself. He made the valiant effort to reach out to grab a pillow to shove under his head before looking around the room for Dick. Normally the older male would stay and cuddle, or wait till Tim was asleep to start leaving, but it seemed as if today would be different. He watched as Dick grabbed some clothes out of the closet and started to throw them on.

 

Asking him to stay was simply not something Tim would allow himself to do. Even the cool feeling, moments ago so refreshing on his skin, was now starting to prickle uncomfortable at the thought of being left alone after three days of constant attention.

 

 _Snap out of it!_ They were all adults and Dick was just doing him a favor. As did Jason, occasionally, and Tim never had a problem with Jason leaving quickly after. _That’s because he never does birdbrain_.

 

“Whatcha thinking about sweetheart?” Tim startled as Dick’s face appeared abruptly above his.

 

“Ah-- nothing. Just tired,” With any luck, he would buy it. Tim watched as Dick stayed still for a moment, eyes searching his own deeply, and then nearly went cross eyed as Dick’s finger landed between his eyes to smooth out a wrinkle.

 

“You’ve got your thinking face on. You should have your sleepy face on,”

 

“Was just thinking about a case,”

 

“Tim!” Dick said despairingly, “Please don’t ever say that again. You are going to ruin my reputation if you go around telling people you are capable of solving cases right after I’m done with you.” Tim let a fond smile light his face.

 

“I’ll be sure to let them know I was entirely brain-dead for at least three days, happy?”

 

There was a huff of amused breath before a soft kiss graced his upper temple, as the alpha moved in and encased Tim in a tight hug. For a few blissful seconds he was surrounded by the smell of _family and protection and alpha and safety,_ before Dick pulled back and moved away.

 

“I have to go meet up with the team for some league business. Go to sleep baby, you’ve had a rough week.”

 

“Anything I can do to help?” Files and recent cases were already starting to float up into Tim’s mind.

 

“Nah it's all routine.., oh well actually, I’m talking Babs to dinner tonight, should I wear the grey or blue shirt?” Tim held himself perfectly still to avoid letting anything he felt show on his face. A tiny voice screamed in the background as his mind desperately tried to explain what a favor was to his biology. Tim swallowed to clear his suddenly dry throat.

 

“The grey one. It’ll bring out your eyes more,” The truth was worth the beatific grin he received in response. A chaste kiss was dropped on his lips and then Dick was out the door calling his good byes.

 

\------------

 

Tim breathed a sigh of relief as the redbird slid neatly into it’s parking space in his personal Nest. The Nest came alive around him as he walked through to the main console, quickly and efficiently stripping off his uniform. His heat might be over, but the kevlar was doing him no favors in trying to stay cool.

  


Tim had approached Bruce with the idea of the Nest back when Damian was still treating homicide like a viable answer to every irritation. He hadn’t given the brooding man much of a choice, making it very clear that the moving out itself was not under question, but whether Bruce wanted to be a part of the decision making process for the schematics of the Nest. In retrospect, fighting for the Nest had been one of the best decisions he had ever made. No one was allowed in it. The space functioned as his own personal cave, lab, medbay, and compact apartment complete with a rarely used kitchenette. Tim often spent days locked in The Nest, until Alfred’s disapproving face stared him down from the large screened and gently nudged him to come home.

 

Today, however, he was here with a plan.

  


Tim dropped the uniform on the floor, wincing reflexively at the thought of Alfred’s frown, but Alfred wasn't here and neither was anyone else so he could do what he wanted. And what he wanted was to lose himself in the work to stop his thoughts from circling back to Dick, which they had been doing ever since the man had dropped a kiss on him and then left. Apparently his inner omega was convinced they were being abandoned, which in turn left Tim feeling incredibly jumpy and vulnerable. And his logical side incredibly irritated.

 

It was enough to convince him to get back on suppressants which was why the Nest was the perfect place to be. He had made a deal with Bruce; half a year on and half off, and technically he still had three months to go before he could sink back into bliss and pretend to be a beta. But this was his body and he was allowed to do what he wanted so _suck it Bruce._  

 

Tim entered his passwords into the sleeping system and pulled over his ergonomic chair. The thing about suppressants was that they were constantly shifting in composition to keep up with the ever adapting biology of omegas. The kind Tim took for his blissful half of the year were personally made by the Batman himself. But he couldn't exactly hunt down his justice junkie, so buying the kinds off the streets and personally ensuring their chemical composition wasn't going to melt his insides was just going to be how he was going to have to roll.

 

A soft beep alerted Tim to an incoming message right as he dropped the last pill into the chemical solution.

 

<Call Incoming: Conner Kent>

 

“Patch it through Jeeves,” Tim called, rolling away from the lab.

 

“Sup buddy?”

 

“Hi Kon,”

 

“What are you doing out of the castle? Thought you would have been imprisoned there for the rest of the week?” Tim rolled his eyes up at the large screen that was now displaying Kon’s grinning face.

 

“First, and I’ve told you this _many_ times; it's not a castle. And second, today was the last day. So it's over and I’m free and we really don’t have to talk about it,”

 

“Yeah yea- wait. _Today_ was the last day?”

 

“ _Kon_ ,”

 

“Tim,”

 

“...yes today was the last day,” Tim watched as Kon’s grinning face morphed into concern and wanted to strangle something. How was it that he couldn't even go _one entire minute_ without alerting his best friend to his inner turmoil. He was _Red Robin_ for the love of _Bob_. Obviously he was getting soft.

 

Tim had lay in the bed that Dick had left him in for about fifteen minutes before realizing that any lethargy he had been feeling from the intense ehem, _workout_ from the days prior had been wiped away. He had then jumped into the shower, reciting the details of a case Jason had been  working on in the past week, absolutely refusing to acknowledge the hollowness in his chest or why it was hard to breathe.

 

He had managed to sneak down to the cave right as Damian and Bruce were sitting down to dinner and had caught a snippet of conversation;

 

(“...So how was school?”

 

“Father. It is _July_.”)

 

After that it had been the not-so-easy task of making sure Alfred wouldn’t pop up in the cave while he was grabbing his duffle and the keys to the redbird and he was home free.

 

He absolutely refused to acknowledge the sweat stained sweatshirt that smelled like a mixture of Bruce, Jason, and Dick that was sitting in his duffle bag.

 

“...-im. Tim. _Tim_ ,”

 

“What?” Tim reflexively snapped his head up. Only to see Kon’s face, somehow looking _more_ worried. Seriously, the guy was spending too much time with Ma Kent.

 

“You zoned out there. Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“I’m fine,”

 

“ _Tim_ ,”

 

“Kon,”

 

Both superheros stared at each other, neither willing to break the stare or blink.

 

“Hah!”

 

“Oh my god what is it with you Bats and needing to win _everything_ ,” Kon said, blinking furiously to clear his watery eyes.

 

“Can’t help it. It’s Batman’s first lesson; Win or Die. He likes to teach it in real life scenarios. Like jumping off buildings and whatnot.”

 

“I believe it,” Kon muttered. “Listen, I actually called for a reason you know. I thought you ended yesterday so I was going to invite you to the farm. Ma made some extra pies and the heat isn't too bad and we just cleaned out the pond. But...it's up to you if you want to come today. Do you feel alright?” Tim stared up at the earnestly hopeful face of his best friend and felt something relax in him. “I could even come and get you,” And that sealed the deal.

 

“I’ll come. But you have to come get me and you have to promise that we can go through at least three clouds,”

 

Tim scrambled out of his chair to secure the lab while laughing at Kon in the background, who was complaining about how cold clouds were. The guy was a meta he could deal. As for Tim, he would more than deal. He would _thrive_ . There was nothing more refreshing than a cloud when coming off a heat. A small niggling in his brain told him that Kon knew this fact because Tim had informed him of it repeatedly and _wasn't this all too coincidental._ But, like the part of his brain that kept trying to make him think about the sweatshirt in the duffle bag, he was most certainly _not_ going to acknowledge it.

 

“I’ll be at the docks in half an hour, pick me up?”

  


\--------------

 

Tim yelped as he was suddenly picked up...and up and up and up. The ground fell behind at an alarming rate as he made himself comfortable in Kon’s hold.

 

“Pick up for a Tim Drake?”

 

“Very funny Kon. Now I believe there was some mention of a cloud?”

 

“Right this way, Sir,”

 

And then they were encased in neverending white while Tim’s delighted laughter floated back across the sky.  

 

\-------------------

  


Dick pulled up to the manor, expertly navigating the sleek car into the hidden garage. A lazy smile graced his lips as he thought back to the incredibly productive day he had. Waking up to Tim stirring underneath him had been the highlight, watching those liquid eyes open and see his own face first thing in the morning left a very intense powerful feeling in Dick’s chest.

 

Then, of course, his proposal for the how the Justice League should proceed in dealing with the newly discovered alien planet was accepted, which meant that his place as a full fledged member of the league was solidifying. Barbara had agreed to be his date out to the new restaurant that Richard Wayne had been expected to put in an appearance to. The food had been excellent and Barbara’s dress had left him feeling pride at having her on his arm while other men stared jealously from afar. Having her accompany him for the night had been the best decision, even if he had briefly wondered if Tim would like to go.

 

He would have taken Tim, but Tim was recovering from their _activities_. Plus Dick wasn’t entirely sure he wanted other men to stare at his...his Tim.

 

Dick hung up the keys and took the stairs two at a time to get into the manor. Perhaps Tim was still awake and Dick could show him the pictures he had taken of the over-the-top desserts he had ordered. Seriously, _nothing_ should have that many maraschino cherries.

 

“Dick? Is that you?” Bruce’s voice called from a library on the third floor. Dick jumped over the banister half way up from the fourth floor and strode back to grin at his unamused mentor.

 

“Hey Bruce,”

 

“You know Alfred doesn't like you jumping down the staircases,” Bruce said mildly. Which translated directly to I-Have-A-Hard-Time-Watching-You-Possibly-Stub-A-Toe-Jumping-Five-Feet. Dick rolled his eyes.

 

“I’ll be careful. What’s up?”

 

“Nothing, how was the restaurant? How’s Barbara doing?”

 

“Babs is good, hadn’t caught up with her in a while so it was nice to see her. The food was surprisingly good. Oh god, I have to show you, they made this terrific dessert. I don't even know what it's called, I have to show Tim though, he is going to be so jealous. It was just covered in chocolate and cherries…” Dick fished out his phone and scrolled through the pictures, missing the quick look that passed over Bruce’s face.

 

“Dick…” A picture of a diabetic inducing monstrosity was shoved into his face.

 

“What the...how did that even fit into the cup?”

 

“I _know_ ! It was _insane_ . I have to show Tim. I’m going to tell him that they are overbooked for months, he’s going to go _crazy_ ,” Bruce stared at his beaming eldest child and felt something twist inside him. He was torn between what to explain first; that Tim probably wouldn't buy that they were too booked to accommodate a Wayne, since he had been a _Drake_ before. Jason probably would have fell for it at some point and perhaps Damian, but his darling omega was from a family almost as affluent as Bruce’s himself. Or that Tim wasn’t going to be seeing the monstrosity (seriously; _how_ did they get it all into the cup?) since he wasn't at the manor.

 

“I’ll be back Bruce, I want to see if I can catch him before he falls asleep,” Well, that settled that.

 

“Dick wait, Tim’s not here,” Bruce carefully watched the younger alpha as he froze in mid-turn. Dick seemed to pause for a moment, going from his normal overly excited state to Nightwing in a snap.

 

“Where is he.”

 

“Tim is...with a few friends. He informed me that he would be staying the night a few hours ago,” Bruce watched as his eldest son seemed to struggle with processing the information. Truth be told, he hadn't been all that excited about the prospect of Tim spending the night away from the manor this night either. And don’t even get him started on sneaking out of the Manor. But Alfred vouched for Mrs. Kent, and Bruce liked to think that Tim was his smartest child. Of course, going to a different alpha after spending his heat with another hadn't been the smartest decision, but Bruce was not going to be the parent that stifled his omega child. He preferred, instead, to drop increasingly obvious hints to Clark on what exactly would happen if _his_ son did anything that would hurt Tim. His lecture on chemical castration especially seemed to leave an impact.

 

“Friends?” Dick’s monotone voice brought Bruce out of reminiscing about the pinched look on Clark’s face.

 

“I believe he is spending the night in Smallville,” Bruce said carefully.

 

“Smallvil- _Superboy_ ? He is with Superboy?! He is supposed to be here Bruce. What is he doing in _Smallville_ with _Superboy_?”

 

“Eating pie I suppose,”

 

“ _Bruce_ ,” The word was edged towards a snarl.

 

“Dick. Calm down. Tim is allowed to do what he wants when he wants. He has no obligation to stay here. Superboy is a friend and I suppose Tim felt like he wanted to go there. So he did. It's as simple as that.”

 

“Bruce. Tim is still in _heat,_ ”

 

Bruce felt his throat go dry.

 

“...What?”

 

\--------------

 

Tim dove down deep into the natural pond that the Kents maintained. The water plants reached up to tickle his legs as he kicked past. A group of minnows scurried past and then then scattered as a disturbance from above triggered their instincts.

 

Tim looked up to see a black mass descending towards him.

 

\-------------

 

“Dick, you left Tim here alone while he was still in _heat_ !? Of all the...How _could_ you?” Bruce tried to make sense of what was happening. He knew there was no way Dick or Jason missed his extremely long and thorough lessons on how to properly care for an omega. When his elder sons had come to him expressing a desire to help Tim through his heats, he had made sure they knew what was expected, after, of course, checking with Tim to make sure the offer was even on the table.

 

“It wasn’t like that,” Dick’s voice was alternating between pissed off Alpha and pleading son. “He was out of it, he didn’t need me anymore. But he needed _to stay here_ . He doesn't need anything but he is still giving off that...that _scent_.”

 

“Jesus Christ, Dick,”

 

“I left him in my bed Bruce. _He should have stayed there_.”

  


\------------

 

“You _asshole_ ,” Tim gasped out as Kon dragged him out of the water, while laughing.

 

Tim narrowed his eyes and halfheartedly swiped at Kon’s side, getting bearhugged for his troubles.

 

“Jesus dude, you’re burning up,”

 

\--------

 

“How could you let him leave?”

 

“How could _I_ \- Oh we are not even going _there_ right now. Tim left of his own volition. About an hour after you left. Damnit Dick, you should have told me.”

 

“I..I thought he was just going to go to sleep. Bruce he _always_ falls asleep,” Bruce stared into the beseeching eyes of his eldest son. He resisted the urge to continue the fight.

 

“Alright...alright,” A little because Dick was looking like someone had told him that cereal was banned from the States and a lot because his baby omega was now in the company of a lout and probably smelling as appetizing as the dessert Dick had been shoving into his face. “Let’s go get him.”

 

\---------------

 

“I’m sorry, _what_?!” Kon stared at Tim in panic, Tim, who was of course, looking extremely bored and unconcerned.

 

“It’s not that big of a deal Kon. I get little flare ups. It doesn't mean anything. It’s just a bit of cramping and sometimes my temperature gets high,” Tim honestly could not understand what the panic was about.

 

“Tim you...aren't in _heat_ heat though right?”

 

“Oh my god, _no_ Kon I am not in _‘heat_ heat’”

 

“Tim...I need you to be totally honest with me. Do you need me to do... _that_? Because I will dude. I would for you,” Tim felt his eye twitch.

 

“As...touching as that was, no Kon I _do not_ need to have sex with you,” He fought the urge to roll his eyes, “What I do need is to get back into your very environmentally friendly pond because I was just making friends with some minnows. Or a cloud.” And apparently he had really shocked Kon because the taller boy shyly stepped forward, holding his arms out.

 

“We can...we can sit in a cloud until you cool down,” Kon gruffly offered.

 

“Oh _Cloneboy_.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kon's and Tim's bromance is further defined. Bruce struggles with raising an Omega child. Dick starts to realize that he is perhaps feeling a bit more than brotherly towards Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a multi-chaptered Fic! I understand there were some concerns about how the first chapter was left off, but there is more to come and hopefully it will all make sense too! (Because I am going with the flow here and have no idea where this fic is taking me!) 
> 
> Have at it! I just love the thought of Bruce being the type of dad to send every text starting with To and From.

  
  


Tim stretched out in the empty field, feeling tiny bubbles of tension pop all along his spine. His vision had long since adjusted to the darkness, with a lot of help from the stars. In Gotham you never really took the time to look at the sky because you usually had to get past a thick layer of smog. And then if you did that, there was usually a thick layer of cloud to contend with. Here, though, it was just endless miles of twinkling sky.

 

A rustle to his right interrupted the symphony of cicadas he was listening to, and let him know that Kon was waking up, Tim looked over.

 

“Hey,” 

 

“...Hey. I fell asleep?” Tim nodded once, watching as Kon blinked the sleep from his eyes. “Damn, how long have we been out here?” 

 

“It's probably around three in the morning now,” Tim said, failing to mention that it was exactly 3:14 AM according to his inner clock. He had been told that it was incredibly off putting. 

 

“Aw hell, we should be getting back. You should’ve woken me, Ma’s going to kill me if she thinks I’m making you sleep out in the field,” 

 

“Oh  _ will  _ she?” Tim’s smile glinted in the dark. 

 

“Shut up Rob. See what happens the next time you have the insane desire to go sit in a thunder cloud,” 

 

“I’ll just ask Clark,” 

 

“Yeah- I’m  _ sure- _ ” A thunderous crack echoed across the field. Instantly the two Titans were on their feet, bodies ready to move at the slightest sound. And then a figure started descend from the clouds. Tim squinted up. 

 

“Is that...Clark?” 

 

“Well he does live here,” 

 

“He lives forty miles west of here Kon,” 

 

Kon’s response was cut off by Superman landing between them. Tim stepped back in the same instant and straightened up, every hint of lethargy seeping from his body as his mind rifled through the various impending doomsday proclamations the Super could bring. 

 

“Where have you two  _ been _ ?” Came the entirely unexpected question in a tone that Tim normally associated with ‘panicked mother’. Tim and Kon exchanged glances. 

 

“We’ve been here on the farm all day,” Kon said hesitantly, still not entirely comfortable with the man that had initially spurned him. 

 

“Is everything alright? Did something happen in Gotham?” Various thoughts of an Arkham breakout floated into Tim’s mind. 

 

“No- no, everything is fine. We just...weren’t sure where you were,” Clark finished, somewhat lamely. Tim and Kon stared at the Super disbelievingly. And then it hit Tim. 

 

“ _ We _ ?”

 

“Bruce has been looking for you, Tim,” 

 

“What? But you said..I told him where I was! What happened-...” 

 

“Everything is  _ fine  _ Tim,” Clark moved forward soothingly, “He was calling you and you weren’t picking up, so he asked me to find you guys. But you have been silent for the past five hours,” 

 

“Oh my god. I am an  _ adult _ . I live  _ alone _ . Clark, do you have nothing better to do than entertain Bruce’s overprotective fits?!” Tim seethed.

 

“Your safety is important to me Tim,” Clark said with his stupid ernest face. Behind him, Tim could see Kon’s face shifting from a frowning constipated look to incredible amusement and back.

 

“I...I cannot believe this. I just. Wow. Okay,” Tim trailed off darkly. His inner omega preened at the thought of being wanted and missed, while the part in him that created Red Robin snarled at the physical manifestation of a leash.

 

“Tim...it wasn’t like that. You know Bruce doesn’t deny you your freedom,” Clark graciously ignored Tim’s scoff, “It's just Nightwing said you were still in heat and we-,”

 

“I’m sorry, Nightwing said  _ what _ ?” Tim cut in incredulously. A part of him died at realising that he was discussing his heat with Superman. Dick would pay for this. Dearly. 

 

“Your...heat,” An uncertain look crossed the Super’s face. Tim would have felt bad, but he was too busy fending off all the twists being thrown at him. 

 

“Clark. Does it look like  _ I am in heat _ ?!” 

 

“You smell nice,” Kon offered, finally adding his two cents to the conversation. “It's faded a lot now, but back before when you were heating up it was really everywhere and….what?” Tim and Clark stared at Kon.

 

“Okay,” Clark said, breaking his gaze from Kon, “Obviously there has been some type of miscommunication. Tim, I apologize if I have caused you any...distress.” Tim sighed. 

 

“It's alright. I know it wasn't your fault. You aren't the  _ Dick  _ here,” 

 

“Right. Well then...shall we head back? It’s pretty late boys. Tim, I can...”

 

“It's alright, I got it. See you at home,” Kon said interjected quickly.

 

Before Tim could finagle out the meaning of the seemingly random segway, he was scooped up into Kon’s arms with a yelp. The hysterical fanboy in his head informed him that Superman had just offered to carry him home and if his inner omega gripped Kon’s arms tighter than normal that was no one’s business but his own.

 

\-------------------

 

Tim combed his fingers through his hair as he walked into the quaint Kent house. Hitching a ride from Kon was second nature to him, but his hair always ended up tangled. It was definitely time to cut it. 

 

Behind him Kon was grabbing the bag Tim had packed and using his TTK to gently float it over to Tim. Tim vaguely thought of the phone in the bag and considered putting off the epic bitching he was going to unleash on Dick and Bruce. Dick moreso from what he had heard. Then he decided not to. 

 

“Kon, I’m going to head upstairs,” he called to the other boy who was heading into the kitchen, while fishing his phone out of his bag. 16 missed calls. 30 unread texts. 14 voicemails. He instantly started deleting those, not wanting to hear the devolution Dick and or Bruce’s tone from reasonable Alpha to grunting caveman. 

 

He pulled up the latest text from Bruce ( _ Tim, why am I paying for all these phone lines if you do not use your phone? Love Bruce _ ), feeling less irked his mentor then at his alpha….his Dick. Dick. Just Dick.  

 

<I’m Alive. Stop calling.>

 

His phone instantly started to buzz in his hand with an incoming call from Bruce. Giving in to the urge to roll his eyes, Tim sat down heavily on Kon’s bed and accepted the call. 

 

“Hel-”

 

“Where have you  _ been _ ?” Any snark that he might have been prepared to dish out was washed away at the sound of the utter concern leaking through the phone. His voice caught in his throat. Times like this were why Tim had some serious deep seated self loathing issues. No one should ever make Bruce’s voice sound like that. 

 

“Tim?!” 

 

“I’m here!” he said quickly. “I’m here….at Kon’s. Like I told you. We went swimming so I left my phone in my bag. What happened?” 

 

“I..we...are you in heat? Do you need me to come get you?” 

 

“Oh my god. What is going on? Bruce I am  _ not in heat _ . And even if I was, I am with Kon. I couldn't be safer if I tried.” 

 

“Conner is an alpha,” Tim swallowed back the righteous indignation on behalf of his friend at the implications. 

 

“Bruce. It’s Kon. I’m not in heat. I’m totally okay. I had...there were the usual last day flashes. But we went swimming, so it took care of itself,” 

 

“....alright. Would you...you would tell me if you wanted me to come get you right? Because I would. I can be there in an hour. Or I can have Clark fly you back.” Tim fought the urge to remind Bruce that the Superman was not his personal valet/ wayward omega ward tracker. Even though he really wanted to. 

 

“Yes Bruce. I would tell you. And no, I don’t want to. Its nice to get away from the smog sometimes. And the stars are pretty here.” 

 

“That they are kiddo…listen, Dick wants to speak to you. I think you should at least-…”

 

And immediately Tim felt the red cloud up behind his eyes again. 

 

“No. I don’t want to speak with Dick. But you can tell him I’ll be busy next month.” Tim felt vindictive pleasure run down his spine. “I’m fine Bruce. Sorry you were worried, but I’m totally fine. I’ll check in tomorrow. Good night,” and ignoring any protests, he viciously thumbed down the power off button on his phone. 

 

Adrenaline coursed through his veins at finally relieving some of the intense outrage he had been feeling ever since Clark had shot through the sky like some misguided nanny. He glanced around Kon’s room and his eyes settled on a well loved gaming console. Tim’s mouth stretched out in a mockery of a smile as a glint overtook his eye. 

 

It was time to relieve some stress.  

 

\-------------------

“Kon, wait up,” Clark reached out to grab the younger Super’s shoulder. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“You guys all set upstairs? Need anything? I was going to head back into the city,” 

 

Kon looked curiously at him. Clark forced a smile on his face and pretended like Superman offering to do a convenience store run for a sleepover was nothing out of the ordinary. By the look on Kon’s face he was failing hard. 

 

“Uh no. We are all set….thanks?” 

 

“Oh. Well okay.” More awkward eye contact. 

 

“....okay then. So i’m just going to go-....”

 

“Actually, there was one more thing...I just...I don’t mean to pry. But I guess I just wanted to know...does Tim affect you in any way?” Kon scoffed and an amused light lit up his eyes. 

 

“Hell yeah the little twerp affects me. Do you know how many times a day he does something stupid? It's a freaking miracle he’s alive, you really need to speak to Batman about this. Did I ever tell you about…” Kon rambled on about something Tim had done while Clark tried to figure out how to best rephrase his questions. 

 

“...-and then he decided the best thing to do would be to  _ drive off the roof _ . Can you believe-,” 

 

“Ah yes, but actually I meant more like today. When you spent time with him. You said he smelled nice? Earlier Nightwing said they prefer Red Robin to stay within the manor on this day because of the scent he gives off? Can you tell me about that?” 

 

“What’s there to tell?” Kon shrugged, “He usually smells like cherries and chocolate. When he got overheated it just gets amplified. But in a nice way. I just took him up to a cloud to let him cool off. Or threw him in the pond. Figured that was the best thing to do,” He looked up to meet Clark’s startled stare and then said defensively, “He doesn’t mind it when I throw him in the pond. And no one was around besides Ma anyway so who cares what he smells like?”

 

“I just...well I guess what i’m trying to figure out is, why don’t  _ you  _ care? Doesn’t his scent affect you on a biological level?” Clark stared down at his protege who suddenly supported a rueful smile. 

 

“Didn’t say that it  _ didn’t _ affect me. Of course it makes me...think things. But he’s my best friend. And I’m not going to do anything that he’s not comfortable with, what kind of a guy do you think I am?..Besides, he’s still  _ Tim _ . Just sometimes he needs different things. It doesn't change anything,” 

 

Clark took in the matter of way that Kon was speaking and then the way that the younger super was staring at him as if he was the odd one.  _ Maybe I am the odd one _ , Clark thought. Obviously he had been severely misjudging his younger counterpart, who suddenly seemed leagues more mature than initially thought. 

 

“Oh,” He had given speeches to stop planets from warring but it seemed that was the extent of the eloquence he could muster at the moment. 

 

“Yeah...so can I go? I have to stop Tim from getting into my games before he beats all my high scores. Again.” From what Clark was hearing (maniacal laughter and what sounded like a first person shooting game, it was too late).

 

“Of course...Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” he called half heartedly. He deserved the unamused look Kon shot him before disappearing up the stairs. 

 

“Great,” Now he had to deal with Bruce.  

 

\----------------------

 

“Tim? Tim?...He’s gone,” Bruce thumbed off the phone and turned to look at Dick who was nearly vibrating with a flood of emotions. 

 

“The important thing,” he started carefully, “Is that Tim is safe. Say what you will, he is very safe with Conner.” 

 

“He would have been safe  _ here _ ,” Dick said, in a barely controlled tone. Bruce watched his eldest son pace restlessly and wondered if Dick even knew why he was so upset. He decided to ask, using all his subtlety and tact he gained from a career of flying around the city as Batman.  

 

“Dick. Why is this upsetting you?” Nailed it. 

 

“I...I…” Nightwing finally paused near the bikes. They had been ready to go get Tim before, but after attempting multiple times to reach his phone, a quick call to Clark was made to ask him if he had seen the boys. They had decided to wait on when Clark located them instead of driving to the farm and possibly away if the boys had headed back. Bruce didn't like to think about what the hours of waiting had done to his nerves. It wasn’t fair to Tim, who  _ had  _ technically checked in, and was entirely capable of taking care of himself and Kon. Still, Bruce worried sometimes. 

 

“I…” Bruce resisted the urge to shake his eldest into saying something other than ‘I’. 

 

“I...don’t know. I just...he...Bruce, I know he’s not  _ mine _ . But sometimes it  _ feels  _ that way. And I don’t ever mind it when he has Jason on him but...Superboy. That's just...it's bothering me. And I can’t shake it. I need him here.” Bruce stared into the pleading eyes of his eldest, speechless. 

 

Well shit. His eldest had already claimed Tim on the basest level and didn't realize it. Bruce knew the reason Dick never minded it when Jason spent a few days with Tim was because Jason was Pack within Dick’s mind. And Bruce’s, not that he still didn’t have to find a way to reassure Jason of that every time he came over. 

 

“Dick. Do you…” Bruce frantically searched his mind to find a way to rephrase  _ ‘like Tim _ ?’ as the end of the question; there was no need to be immature about this, “...-ever think about furthering your relationship with Tim? Do you see him as perhaps more than someone within your pack that you are doing a favor for?” 

 

Dick was doing a fantastic imitation of a deer in headlights, “I don’t know.” Bruce resisted the urge to sigh loudly. “I...like having him close. I like it when he comes to me for help. I like that he is talking to me more. I  _ don’t like  _ that he went to Kon today...yesterday, whatever.” 

 

“I think,” Bruce offered carefully, “that you need to figure this out. Before you see Tim again. You need to decide in which capacity you wish to continue your relationship with Tim, because he is his own person, Dick. He is allowed to do what he wants and it’s not fair to ask him to wait indefinitely while you figure this out.”  

 

“I know, I know Bruce. I just...I need to see him so badly.” 

 

“And what does that tell you?”  _ Come on Dick, I raised you to be a detective, so  _ detect _. _

 

The roar of Nightwing’s bike waking and then Dick peeling out of the Cave was his answer. Bruce groaned, already realizing that shouting after his eldest would be an exercise in futility. 

  
  
  


\----------------------

 

“Bruce...Bruce wake up,” Bruce startled awake to see Clark hovering over him. He looked around and realized that he had dozed off at the main console of the cave. 

 

“You are the second meta to break my rule today,” he grumbled.

 

“I break your rules everyday,” Clark said ruefully, before leaning down and stealing a kiss. He pulled back slightly when Bruce tried to deepen the kiss and said, “Wait, I think we should talk about Tim first,”

 

Bruce groaned and rolled away, putting a few feet between himself and Clark. 

 

“I’ll thank you  _ not  _ to bring up my son when I have my tongue down your throat please,” 

 

“Sorry...But this is important. It’s just that Tim is a valuable member of our community. He’s also one of the few omegas on the team. And you know we would never hold his status against him but…”

 

“What?” 

 

“...I think your claim is fading from him. People might start to approach him now and consider him a viable option. He’s not a kid anymore Bruce. I just want you to be prepared for it,” According to the look he was getting from Bruce, the other man was not in the mood to be prepared for anything. 

 

“What do you mean my claim is fading? He is my son, my claim will always be on him,” Bruce said fiercely. 

 

“Of course it will,” Clark said placatingly, “But don’t tell me you haven't noticed; he smells like Dick and Jason now more than he does you. And people respect that so no one has made any overtures...but he is also starting to spend more time with Kon. People will pick up on things like that. They might think he is...looking around.” 

 

Bruce fought back a haze of red at the thought of Tim...mingling. And then shuddered as he imagined his wisp of a son in the arms of Aqualad. Or worse; The Flash. 

 

“Bruce?” 

 

“Just...thinking. I need to figure out how to deal with this without stepping on Tim’s toes or alienating him from the rest of the league. I’ve already got Dick trying to figure out what feelings are and I’m assuming Connor will come to the same conclusion  _ eventually _ . My son is about to be hounded.” Bruce steepled his fingers and stared off into the distance while Clark watched him worriedly. 

 

“Bruce, I didn't mean to tell you that to worry you...or suggest that you do anything. It’s a normal part of life. Tim is going to be approached by people; you just need to make sure he is prepared to deal with the attention.”

 

“He has all the attention he needs.” Between whenever Dick and going to get there and Kon, Tim was going to have a rough time already getting a moment alone. The thought made Bruce scowl deeper.

 

“ _ Bruce _ ,” 

 

“What Clark? What do you want me to say? Here is my Omega son, bidding starts at $1000?”

 

“Well I would hope not seeing as this isn't the 1500s,” Clark said matter of factly. He hurried on when Bruce’s face morphed into the Batman scowl, “Look, I’m not saying it will be easy, but Tim is an extremely capable and independent young man. I know you want him to stay in the manor forever but that's just not realistic and you know it. Dick can’t help him out with his heats forever, sooner or later he will want someone to settle down with. If you play your cards  _ right _ , you can be there for him later when he is making the decisions that really count,” Clark held his breath as Bruce mulled over his words. Finally the Bat shifted his gaze to look at the super and pushed the chair back closer. 

 

Bruce reached up and grabbed the lapel of Clark’s shirt. “How did you get so knowledgeable in the ways of Omega rearing Mr. Kent?” 

 

A smile eased onto Clark’s face, “Must be something I picked up along the way,” he breathed against Bruce’s mouth. 

 

“We will continue this later. But...bed now.” 

 

\--------------------

 

“Kon?” A soft voice broke through the haze that had settled over Kon’s mind. He let out a content sigh and turned his head closer to the noise. 

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Still awake?”

 

A more solid  _ ‘mmm’  _ was his response. Tim stared up at the exposed beams of Kon’s bedroom from his side on the bed. The sun was ever so slowly flooding light into the room and Tim hadn’t managed to sleep a wink. Exhaustion was settled into every nook and cranny of his being but his mind refused to shut off. 

 

He couldn't stop feeling regret at his hastily made decision earlier. Everything could have been avoided if he had stayed in bed.  _ But why do I have to? _ It wasn't fair. He had made no promises to Dick or Jason. They both knew the deal when he had accepted their offers; nothing permanent. They knew...they knew…

 

To his immediate mortification, Tim felt tears cloud up his eyes. 

 

_ They knew they weren’t supposed to leave. _

 

“Tim?” Kon’s sleep rough voice broke through Tim’s pity party. Tim’ squeezed his eyes shut tight, thanking god that the one traitorous tear that had escaped was rolling down the side of his face away from Kon.

 

“Yeah?” His voice was perfectly steady. 

 

“ _ You _ woke me up,” Kon’s voice held a hint of tease.

 

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, go back to sleep. It was nothing,” 

 

Next to him, the super stretched lazily before unexpectedly rolling over and spooning Tim from behind. 

 

“ _ Kon _ !” 

 

“Relax,” Kon said soothingly into the back of Tim’s head. “You’re too stiff. Plus it's my bed. Can do what I want. Ruler of the bed and stuff.” 

 

Tim growled, secretly grateful when depressing thoughts fled as his body accepted the calming touch from the Alpha. He purposefully shuffled around, flinging his bony elbows back, until Kon playfully growled, and then settled down. 

 

He was asleep not five minutes later. 

 

\---------------------------

 

Kon woke up late in the day, feeling incredibly content. He let the awareness slowly seep back into him, becoming aware of Tim softly breathing in his arms. The other boy was still sleeping as far as he could tell from the rhythmic breathing and entirely lax muscles sprawled on him. 

 

Kon opened his eyes slowly and saw a shock of inky black hair. He blew it away from his face, watching in amusement as it slowly settled a few millimeters away. Then the scent hit him. He turned his head slowly, every single nerve reacting to the scent of foreign enraged alpha in the room.

 

“Good Morning Superboy, I thought we could have a little chat,” Nightwing said. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Wild Jason Appears! And more importantly I seem to have stumbled upon an actual plot! Who knows where we go from here. Enjoy!

**CHAPTER 3**

  
  


Nightwing stood in the upstairs bedroom of the Kent’s humble abode. Beams of sunlight that had managed to circumvent the curtains gave the room a warm glow in places, while others remained shrouded in darkness. 

 

He could not tear his eyes away from the two figures sleeping on the large bed. Tangled up in the down blanket lay Tim and Kon, their limbs entangled in such a way that it was clear that they had fallen asleep holding each other and only the unconscious movements of the body in sleep had let them drift apart. But not enough.

 

Kon was lying on his back, an arm flung across the other pillow, which Tim had vacated due to his head obviously preferring to be pillowed by the Super’s pectoral. Tim had his head tucked right under the Super’s chin, and Dick’s heart ached at the sight. Tim liked to curl up as he slept and Dick’s lip curled at the sight of Tim’s body coiled around Kon’s so naturally. 

 

A movement under Kon’s eyelids drew his attention and he watched as the awareness slowly seeped back into the meta. He waited patiently as Kon blew Tim’s hair away from his face and then let a vicious grin overtake his face when the Super froze suddenly. 

 

“Good Morning Superboy, I thought we could have a little  _ chat _ ,” he said, voice reflecting none of the hostile energy his body was radiating. 

 

Kon swallowed, but when he spoke his voice was also low and devoid of inflection. 

 

“Nightwing...What are you doing here?” His eyes tracked the other hero as he moved in and out of the shadows around the room. 

 

Nightwing let out a low laugh, “Well you see, I lost a little birdie. I left it in my room, but when I came back, I heard it flew all the way over here. Just came to get it back, that's all.” 

 

Kon swallowed as Nightwing finally stood still at the end of the bed, eyes locked on his, body emanating aggressive intent. 

 

“I think,” Kon started carefully, “That you are a little bit confused. It’s not what it looks like.” The awareness of the situation was sinking into him and he knew this could go very badly very quickly. His own instincts were screaming at him to protect his territory (and the omega within it) but he ruthlessly shoved them down. Mostly because he knew he didn’t have much of a chance against an enraged Nightwing, and partly because he didn’t want to find out who’s side Tim would take. 

 

Tim chose that moment to let out a small sigh and shuffle even closer to the heat coming off of Kon’s body. Nightwing’s mouth flattened into a severe line and Kon beat back the smug Alpha instincts that bubbled up within him.  _ Timing Tim, come on! _

 

“It's not, is it?” The elder vigilante asked sardonically. 

 

“ _ It's not _ !” Kon’s voice raised unintentionally, “Whoops...I mean; it's really not.”  He tried to keep still to assess whether he had woken Tim up and he could feel Nightwing doing the same. For a moment there was no movement and Kon almost let out a sigh of relief, but then Tim let out a small groan against his neck and cracked his eyes open. 

 

_ Goddamn. Let the Bat-Drama commence, _ Kon thought miserably. 

 

\----------------

 

Tim woke up feeling oddly energized. He could have slept for about 12 more hours, which would have done amazing things for his sleep debt, but there was a frantic sort of energy in the air when he cracked his eyes open that kept him from slipping back into the comforting abyss. 

 

He blinked once slowly, as tan skin came into his vision and then shifted his body to dig it out of the nook that he had created against Kon’s side overnight. The super was lying still beneath him, and it took all of two seconds to realize that he was lying  _ too still _ . Then his body ricocheted into action as he sprang up and away, instinctively twisting away from the  _ other  _ body that was standing at the foot of the bed. 

 

Heart pounding in his throat, it took him an embarrassingly long time to realize that Kon was not dead and he hadn't been sleeping on a dead body. And that it was Dick standing at the foot of the bed, decked out in full Nightwing. 

 

_ What _ . 

 

He refused to relax out of the defensive posture even though both alphas were making soothing noises at him as if he was a particularly demented kitten. 

 

“What is going on?” Tim wished his voice would hold more authority than the sleep drenched hoarseness he had just emitted. 

 

“Tim, it’s okay. Relax.” Dick’s voice finally broke through the roaring in his ears and without his permission, his body reacted to the command.  _ Alpha is here! We are safe.  _

 

_ Yeah fuck that.  _ Memories of the night before flooded in, and along with them came the red hot anger that had somewhat cooled overnight, but seeing the male standing so unabashedly in front of him reignited all of it. 

 

“I would. I would relax but you are somehow standing here when you were most certainly  _ not  _ here last night when I went to bed. Also, I am so fucking pissed off at you right now. So  _ don’t tell me to relax _ .” 

 

“Tim…” Tim’s head snapped over to Kon, who he had almost forgotten was still present in his rage. 

 

“Stay out of this Super Boy,” Dick said moving forward, towards Tim, who bared his teeth at him.

 

“Woah, hey!” Kon leapt out of bed, getting in between the two brothers, “How about everyone calm down?” Ignoring the fact that he had just jumped in between feuding Bats, conducive to  _ no one’s _ health, he stretched his arms out, forcing both males to step back. 

 

“Kon,” Nightwing’s voice was barely controlled, “ _ What did I just say _ ?” Kon swallowed, but before he could say anything Tim spoke up. 

 

“Don’t tell him what to do!  _ This is his room _ ….But yeah Kon, move. I need to settle this.” 

 

The super hesitated, but eventually relented when Tim signaled to him. It was a Titan specific gesture that said;  _ OK for now. Will holler if need assist _ . 

 

“Alright...I’ll be downstairs. Call me if you need me.” The last part of his sentence was directed moreso at Tim. The Bats waited until the door shut behind the Super, before turning back to each other. 

 

“Why so mad Baby Bird?” 

 

“Don’t call me that,” Tim said angrily, “You are such a  _ Dick _ ,” 

 

“I’ve been told,” The elder male said unrepentantly.

 

“You told  _ Superman  _ that I was in  _ heat _ ! And then made him fly out here to come get me like this is some kind of 1500s bullshit love story? Are you kidding me?!” Tim forced his voice to stay just below the pitch that would indicate screaming. He knew Kon was on a hair trigger somewhere below their feet. 

 

“Well in my defense _ , Baby Bird, _ you  _ were  _ in heat,” Dick shot back, Tim’s aggression feeding his own.

 

“Then why did you  _ leave _ !” As soon as he said it, Tim’s eyes widened and he froze, wishing that he could take it back. Similarly, Dick seemed to defy all movement and stood stock still as he processed the words. The silence stretched on, neither willing to break it. Breaking it would mean taking the next step and moving out of the tenuous agreement they were so precariously in. 

 

“I-...” Dick started finally, when it seemed that Tim was not going to say anything. 

 

“Not like that,” Tim rushed out. He felt a part of him rage and scream against the walls that he had put up to defend himself. Against everyone. “Not like that,” He repeated, hoping his eyes wouldn't reflect how hollowed out he was feeling on the inside. “Not-” 

 

“-Like that.” Dick finished softly. The two vigilantes stared at each other for a minute, waiting to see if either had the guts to call the other out. Then the moment passed. 

 

Tim felt the adrenaline drain and his anger deflate. “Why are you here, Dick?” he asked tiredly. 

 

Dick frowned, noticing Tim’s sudden decline in energy. His sharp eyes roved the smaller male, cataloging all the changes since not even a day ago when he had held him in his arms.  _ Should have kept him there _ , he thought savagely. Tim was subconsciously curved in the the most basic defensive posture that Bruce taught all his birds right from the start. It was doing terrible things to Dick that Tim felt that he needed to defend himself when it was just the two of them.  _ God how did it all go this wrong? _

 

“Tim?..Timmy?” He moved forward carefully, knowing Tim was just as likely to break and run as he was to stand and listen. “I’m sorry.” Tim’s head snapped up in shock and Dick smiled ruefully at him. 

 

“Aw come on, don’t give me that. I can be sorry... and I am. I am so sorry that I left you. I shouldn't have. No-,” he said forcefully when it looked like Tim wanted to interrupt, “I mean it. I shouldn't have left. I just...I thought you would fall asleep, because you usually do Pretty Bird, you usually sleep the entire day and I...I meant to come back in a few hours. There were some issues I needed to take care of with the League and as Richard Wayne…I just..I fucked up Tim. I failed my duty to you and I apologize.” Dick looked at Tim hopefully, hiding all his anxiety that he might have irreparably damaged the progress they had been making in including Tim back into the family. Tim, who was suddenly looking a little shell shocked. 

 

“Your...duty?” The smaller man croaked.

 

Dick nodded seriously, “Yes. Bruce taught us all better than to leave an Omega alone after heat and I fucked that up. I am really sorry, I should’ve stayed.” 

 

“Because...it would have been your duty to stay?” Tim asked helplessly. A part of him screamed at himself to stop asking because  _ hadn’t he already known this would happen. _

 

Dick furrowed an eyebrow and then let his face smooth out, his tone was that of an adult talking to a rather slow, albeit loved, child, “Yes Baby Bird. My duty as an Alpha.” Well. If anything, at least now he was certain as to his place in Dick’s eyes. 

 

“It's alright,” Tim said briskly after a pause. Composure was key; “It wasn’t all your fault anyway. I should have taken the day and slept in like normal. I just was feeling more energized than normal, I guess.” 

 

The smile that appeared on Dick’s face made the sharp pain in his heart almost worth it. Almost. 

 

“We alright Baby bird?” 

 

“Yeah Dick,” Tim said softly, “We’re fine.” He ignored the hollow feeling that was spreading all throughout him. It would be fine. 

 

\---------------------

 

Dick had insisted that Tim ride back with him to Gotham, and not wanting to give Kon any reason to do something stupid (like challenge Nightwing to a duel) Tim gave in. Dick probably hadn't banked on Tim ditching him halfway through, however. 

 

But Tim would be damned if he spent the rest of the day making sure Dick Grayson’s conscience was clear. He had better things to do. He had jumped off the ‘Wing about five miles away from his Nest and swore that nothing felt better than finally seeing the shadowed doors come into sight. His heart had been doing funny things ever since he had he had woken up and he had decided it was high time enough to put this hormone fueled angst behind him. 

 

It seemed that he had forgotten a lesson that he had had to learn so painfully a while ago. But that was okay; he would fix it all now. Red Robin was, and now it seemed; always would be, a lone bird. It was time he stopped acting like that would ever change. 

 

His lab inside the Nest was lit up in green indicating that all the tests he had been running were done. Perfect. Sliding into his chair, Tim softly called for the lights to raise and got to work. It was high time Red Robin stopped acting like a hormonal teen that fell in love with every scrap of affection thrown his way and got his shit together. 

  
  


\------------------------

 

A few hours later Tim rolled back from the high table and let out a loud sigh. He rolled his neck and debated diving right back into the work, before letting his body take over and headed to the shower instead. Maybe a few minutes of standing under hot water would be what he needed to get past the block he appeared to be stuck in.

 

He should have sprung for the fully equipped lab it seemed. His tests on the suppressants, while bearing conclusive results, all held a wild factor that indicated that a lapse could occur any time. This meant that if he didn’t want to suddenly smell like an appetizing meal when he was fighting, say Ra’s for example, he needed to readjust the chemical composition. 

 

And the issue with  _ that _ , was that the only one with the equipment he needed readily available was Bruce. Something told him that if he casually walked into the Bat Cave and asked to borrow said necessary equipment, he would be asked to answer more questions than he was strictly comfortable with. And probably be subject to Bruce’s version of personal atonement, which these days meant a lot of forlorn staring at his chosen victim and slow attempts at a hug. 

 

Tim had enjoyed watching when Bruce had turned this latest parenting gimmick on Damian; 

 

(“Father….have you been poisoned?”)

 

But he figured that he wouldn't enjoy it so much if it was directed at himself. Short of sneaking the materials out of the lab and hoping Bruce would notice (hah), it seemed that he would have to somehow raid a lab, or find one that he could use without alerting anyone else.  _ Because if it was easy then it wouldn’t be fun _ , Tim thought grimly. 

 

Turning up the heat to as much as he could bear, Tim turned and let his head drop, letting the water beat down onto the back of his neck. As his guard lowered and his immediate problem faded away, his mind chose now to gleefully shove his  _ other  _ problem to the forefront. 

 

Dick didn’t want him. 

 

There it was. The plain and simple truth. He had been fulfilling a duty all this time. And Tim had been too blind to see it for what it really was. 

 

When Dick and Jason had approached him in the beginning, he had had his misgivings. But they had seemed so earnest. Jason had been so ready to back out at the slightest hint of Tim being uncomfortable at even having him there. But he had wanted to help. Both Dick and Jason had assured him of that. Repeatedly. He had thought...well. He had thought that perhaps they liked him. 

 

Turns out he was living in a fantasy. 

 

_ My duty.  _

 

Tim swallowed hard against the running water. His eyes burned with tears that he refused to let fall on principle. He had already cried enough tears over this family and wouldn't do so anymore. Still, he would have to adjust his world view, again. 

 

They were doing him a favor as packmates. That was it. Nothing more. Nothing less. And there was nothing wrong with that. 

 

Except….So maybe he had been thinking that they would eventually want to settle down with him. Maybe he had been thinking about something a bit more permanent. Not  _ now _ , of course. But it would have been nice knowing that there was a place that he could turn to and know he was always wanted. 

 

_ It’s okay. _ He thought roughly.  _ It’s better that I know now. _ Because how embarrassing would it have been if he had found out  _ later _ . When he had given even  _ more  _ of his heart over. It was better this way. 

 

Tim sniffed and widened his eyes in a desperate attempt to stop the burning tears that had accumulated from dropping.  _ Okay _ . 

 

_ Okay. Just now. This is the last time. I will just...this will be the last time.  _

 

He let the tears fall and then gave in as his knees weakened and curled up on the floor of his shower with the water beating down on him.  _ Just for now _ , he thought miserably. Later he would be fine. Later, he would pick himself up and figure out what to do with his lab problem. And later he would... he would...he would be fine. 

 

His sobs echoed off the walls of the small shower and the water washed away the tears, but could do little in washing away the heartbreak. 

 

\------------------

 

“Master Dick!” Alfred called, watching as the young vigilante stalked towards the main console ahead of the Bat Cave. His call startled Dick, who broke out of his agitated walk and looked up to where Alfred was standing. 

 

“Hey Alfred.” 

 

“Might I say, young sir, I do hope you are not just now getting back from your nightly activities?” The tilt of Alfred’s eyebrow made Dick wince. 

 

“No! No I just...I just went to visit Tim.” 

 

“Ah. Is he here with you?” Alfred asked, looking behind Dick, as if Tim would magically hop out of the garage pool.

 

“Well he was with me,” Dick muttered. 

 

“What was that?” 

 

“I said, he had somewhere better to be. I think he went to his Nest,” Which was another sore point.  The location of Tim’s Nest was best kept secret in the entire world it seemed. Bruce had been steadfast in his refusal to divulge the information, only saying that it was somewhere in Gotham and was a secure location. 

 

As if that would make him feel better about it. They were allowed to have private safe houses. Heck, they even had private  _ houses _ . But Tim still seemed to think that the Nest was his home. He frequented it like that Batclan frequented the Manor. It wasn't a stopping point for him or a way to keep his public image clean. His little bird was still acting like an outsider. Like he had no real home. 

 

But maybe he changed that today. Granted, he had been startled when Tim had popped up behind him and said  _ Thanks for the ride. Sayonara! _ And then jumped off. But Tim was always flighty.  

 

“Master Dick?” Alfred’s concerned voice broke through his thoughts.

 

Dick looked up again, startled from where he had apparently frozen on the walk way, “Sorry Alfie, what was that?” 

 

“...I was saying how you should perhaps indulge in a shower and then perhaps a nap, Young Sir. You are looking a bit peaky.” Which was Alfred’s kind way of saying that he looked like shit. 

 

Which made sense. He had spent the last few days keeping up with an Omega in Need. And then had to run off to take care of business with the league and dinner with Babs....Then chased down the same Omega, who was not so much in Need as he had thought, only to lose him half way home. Sleep had been the main sacrifice.

 

“Yeah Alfred, I think I’ll be taking that advice.” He would track Tim down later. Make sure that the younger boy knew that Dick was ready to be in it for life. Tim got weird about things like this. Serious abandoment issues, which, granted, some of them were Dick’s fault. But he was going to fix that. As soon as Tim crawled back out of the Nest. 

 

\----------------------

 

Jason roared into the cave on his bike, revving it a few extra times in hopes that Bruce or Damian were there so he could annoy them. It was the simple things in life really. 

 

He skidded to a stop, kicking up gravel and to his delight, Bruce was standing at the edge of the main console. He was frowning in the normal constipated way of his, as he tried to decide if he wanted to engage or not. _ Pick your battles, Old Man _ , Jason thought gleefully, leaning forward and resting his arms on the handles with a shit eating grin. Bruce seemed to struggle for a moment, before visibly giving in and saying, “Good Afternoon Jason,” 

 

“Sup Pops,” He called back, swinging a leg over the bike and feeling slightly cheated out of his maximum enjoyment. 

 

“How did your stakeout go? Did you figure out where Maroni is getting the toxic suppressants?” 

 

“Not yet. But I might have done one better. Think I figured out who is making them and…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial, tossing it to Bruce. “Got you some pills for all your aches and pains, Pops.” 

 

Bruce caught the vial, turning it over to get a clear look at the two seemingly innocent pills inside. He was surprised that Jason had managed to get his hands on them. All the dealers that they had shook down so far were coming up blank. 

 

“How did you get these?” 

 

“I’ve got my ways.” Which was Bruce’s cue to stop asking more questions, which the Bat did with another frown. But that didn’t matter; Bruce didn’t need to know about the Omega stripper that he had persuaded to sell the suppressants. In return he had had to help create a magical bond of love between the stripper and one of the bouncers, and stick around to make sure that nothing went south. Worth it in the end though; he had learned some new positions he figured the Baby Bird might like to try.

 

He shook himself out of that vein of thought quickly though; Bruce was walking around in front of him talking about running tests and scheduling patrols and ain’t nobody had time for  _ that  _ personal trauma. 

 

“What do you have planned next for this Jason?” Bruce asked. Jason took a moment to appreciate how far they had come; getting Bruce to respect the boundaries of his cases and not taking over in the pushy way of his, especially on a case as big as this, was one of the deciding factors in his decision to include the family in his life more. 

 

And this was a big case. Three omegas had been found dead within the last month. Granted, it had happened in the Narrows so it could have been for a number of reasons, except Jason had a  _ feeling _ . Getting Tim to look at the autopsy reports had been what got the ball rolling; the smart little bird never missed a detail and realized that something was slightly  _ off  _ about the chemical make-up of the bodies. Jason would be the first to admit that he probably wouldn’t have caught it. At least on the first go of it. 

 

But, with Tim’s help, he had discovered that all three Omegas had ingested the same suppressant. After that, it had only been a matter of figuring out if it had been a fluke or premeditated; which led to another horrific clusterfuck discovery in the end. 

 

To put it simply; if you ran out of the suppressant and ran out of money for more, you died. 

 

They needed to get this drug off the streets  _ yesterday _ . Because, while it was cheap to start, the body eventually built up a resistance, forcing the user to buy more and more. It got hairy quickly and Jason secretly thanked the higher powers that Be, that they hadn't seem more deaths. 

 

Having the pills now, though, was a huge breakthrough. They could start to reverse engineer and create a new pill to get people un-addicted. Then Wayne Enterprises would take over and graciously offer to freely give out the pills or whatever. That was more Tim’s department anyway. 

 

In the meantime though, he still needed to track down the maker and Maroni and strike some good old fashion  _ fear  _ into the man. Targeting helpless Omegas was one of the things that the Red Hood would not stand for. Not that Omegas were helpless, heck; look at his own; Timmy was fucking badass. But there were things that they couldn't help but rely on and  _ apparently  _ common  _ decency  _ wasn't a God given trait anymore, so the Red Hood would have to  _ personally teach  _ it to some people.

 

“I’m thinking about heading down to the narrows tonight.” Jason said, answering Bruce. “Going to sniff around, see if I can figure out if there's a pattern to how they are distributing. Hopefully that will lead us back to the main distributor where, if we get damn lucky, The Chemist might be.” 

 

“The Chemist?” Bruce cocked an eyebrow.

 

“‘S what they call him  underground. Haven’t gotten a name yet, but the general consensus is that he is the one making the shit.”  

 

“I see.” Bruce had already turned back to console and was starting up a program to run possible matches. Unfortunately, this being Gotham, there were a lot of possibilities, but due to the specific nature of the drug they could also narrow the search quite a bit. Not many criminals came with a background of organic chemistry.

 

“I’m thinking about having Red or Dicky work opposite ‘a me. Red preferable. He’s good at picking up patterns and shit. Either of them free tonight?” Bruce’s back tensed ever so slightly, but Jason wasn’t raised to  _ miss  _ details.  

 

“What happened?” 

 

Bruce paused for a moment, and then sighed. “Nothing as far as I know so far. It would seem that Dick and Tim are working through some things.” 

 

“ _Working through_ -...working through _what_ things. Far as I’m concerned, when I left the other night, the only thing they shoulda been working through is _each other,_ ” 

 

Bruce grimaced, “Jason please don’t go there….And there was a slight issue. You would need to talk to Dick about it. I think he went over and smoothed things out with Tim this morning.”

 

“Oh, you bet I’m going to go talk to Dick about it. Where is Red now?” 

 

“Tim is at his Nest.” 

 

“Goddamn.” 

 

Bruce’s face screamed that he echoed the sentiment. Jason waved him off as he jogged towards the elevator to the clock. He hoped that Dick hadn't fucked everything up in the week that he had been gone. A bloody week. These two had so much repressed sexual tension that apparently he couldn't leave for a  _ week  _ without them chafing at each other without him as a buffer. 

 

But whatever. He was here now and he wouldn’t let Dick mess this up or let Tim run. It was time to wake up the Big Bird. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason, Dick and Tim all in one room finally! ish. You might get the impression that Jason has been sidelined a bit, but that is just because Tim and Dick's angst is too powerful to let any other feelings in! (for now)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I just couldn't seem to write this chapter. It still feels like a filler to me and if I end up editing it, I'll post something so you guys know! Apologies for the delay (but the muse was Not happy)

Tim spun around and blocked a tire iron with a gauntlet. He kicked out the thug’s knees and then used the tire iron to knock the other man out. Spinning back around, he kicked the thug that had come up behind him in the head. 

 

As the last body dropped, he stood still for a moment, breathing heavily. Fighting off nine thugs with no back-up was par for course, but it seemed that he would have to lay off of Ma Kent’s pies for a while because he was feeling inexplicably winded. 

 

He secured all the thugs and then went over to the lab they had worked so hard to protect. The setup was similar to the lab he had busted a few days ago. It seemed that whoever had set the lab up was long gone and had intended to let the goons to oversee the cooking process and box up the final product. 

 

Tim looked over the equipment with a practiced eye. He had delivered samples of the chemicals he had found to the cave last time, and this looked like more of the same. It seemed that The Chemist, name gleaned from Jason’s reports, was personally setting up the labs but then disappearing. 

 

The needed to catch The Chemist in the act it would seem. Either way, however, he was glad he had found the lab. The chemicals they created included raw materials that he could use in his own experiments. Tim was attempting to create an antidote to the drug in his lab. Granted, when he had originally heard that they finally had something to reverse engineer, he had already been working on his own  _ side  _ project, but that ended up only helping to make headway with the antidote. 

 

The past week had been a crash course in chemistry and Tim had found himself actually enjoying the challenge. It took his mind off...other things. 

 

He found that simultaneously working on a suppressant and an antidote was incredibly taxing and attention requiring. Which was good, he was still feeling embarrassed about his private breakdown in the shower. He could only thank God that it had happened in his Nest, and not the Manor, because that would have unleashed a can of worms that he, in no uncertain terms, ever wanted to delve into. 

 

Trying to explain that it wasn't  _ him _ , but his  _ omegan  _ side, that was head over heels for Dick and heartbroken, would get him a first class ticket to a psychologist specializing in gender dissociative identity disorder. He didn’t need someone telling him how he felt. He already knew that he was borderline insane, but then again; they all were. Paying someone else to tell him wouldn't change a thing. 

 

And it wasn’t as if he had  _ disassociated  _ from his omegan side. He just preferred it when it would shut up. It had no concept of long term. It was all about the instant gratification and the safety found within pack. Tim spent all the time that his mental walls relaxed even the slightest bit beating back the small voice inside that was begging him to go back to the Manor and hide under Bruce’s bed. 

 

He was not about that life though. He was Red Robin. He was a strong, independant vigilante, amongst the most feared in Gotham, and could clearly take care of himself. He was also apparently a budding scientist it would seem. And desperate to find a way to make his own suppressant. 

 

The past few days had been a wonderful reminder of how great Betas had it. It had also been incredibly lonely but loneliness was an old friend. 

 

His lab looked like the workspace of a meth junkie that indulged in his own creations. He had went out and brought as much equipment on the sly as possible, and managed to jury rig substitutions for the rest of it. It was amazing what you could do when you put your mind to it. And Tim was putting his mind to it. The good thing about chemistry was that you had to pay close attention or things tended to go south quickly. 

 

And Tim was being safe about it. Or rather, he hadn’t injected himself with anything experimental yet. That explosion that one time didn’t count and the burns weren’t too bad. 

 

He wasn’t anywhere near being desperate enough to try his experiments on himself. _ Maybe next week _ . He refused to think deeper into that stray thought, putting all his focus to wrapping up the lab. Focus. He had to stay focused. 

 

Tim neatly took two sets of samples of everything present, one for his own lab and one to send to the cave again. 

 

He set the controlled detonators and was about to set the timer when he heard voices. Instantly, he cast a line up and disappeared into the rafters of the cave to watch. 

 

\---------------------

 

_ The problem with Dick and Tim _ , Jason thought,  _ is that they love each other too much _ . He watched as Nightwing barely pulled his punches on the thugs that they had found in the warehouse. 

 

“If Daddy Bats has changed the rules about killing,” Jason drawled, leaning up against the wall, “How come no one let me know?” 

 

Dick delivered the final blow, knocking out the man entirely, before reaching up and wiping the blood away from his mouth. He looked feral. 

 

Jason understood though. It had been six days since anyone had seen or heard from Tim. If not for the text he had sent to Agent A every other day, the Bats would have already descended upon his damned nest. And to top it all off they had another dead Omega on their hands. The masses were just starting to get wind of what was going on. Jason had been hoping to solve the case before the mass hysteria broke out. 

 

It wasn’t as if Tim completely dropped off the map, either. They knew he was working his own patrols at night, and even dipping in to Jason’s case because of the markings and notes suddenly appearing on the shared map. Jason’s simmering anxiety was soothed occasionally when he clicked into his notes after patrol and saw that the little bird had left a neat line of comments, or blocked out a section of warehouses that he had already checked out. Jason would have appreciated it more if his little bird let them know  _ beforehand  _ where he was going, but he would take what he could get. 

 

Little bird needed some time? Little bird was gonna get some time. But hell no did that mean Jason was going to let him infinitely duck and dodge them. Dick might be feeling it deeper and quicker, but that was just because that was the way the Big bird was. Jason had learned some goddamn  _ patience  _ over the years. Found that sometimes, you couldn’t drag people into seeing it your way, no matter how much you wanted them to. Had to let them come to you. And so he was. 

 

Besides, they had other things to focus their energies on at the moment, which if only for the sake of Dick’s sanity, was a blessing. Jason knew the elder vigilante would have done something he would have regretted by now if it hadn’t been for Jason dragging him out all over the docks the past few days. He was honestly starting to feel like the elder Alpha’s babysitter. 

 

The line of warehouses that Dick and Jason were investigating tonight were one of the few left unsearched on the map. Between them and Tim, they had covered a large surface area very quickly and were now following the pattern that had appeared on the map. It would seem that The Chemist preferred to work near the water. 

 

Jason had two more warehouses planned for tonight, one that was right next door to this one, which they would probably hit next, and one that was about ten minutes away. Both were among the few left that fit the pattern. 

 

They had hit paydirt with this one; they had found a few thugs overseeing the manufacturing of a few of the chemical components of the pill. Jason had already set fire to as many parts of the warehouse as possible, after getting his own samples. If this caused a setback in drug production than  _ oh well. Too bad so sad _ . Not. 

 

But they did have to be careful. Bruce was working on reversing the drug with the help of Babs, and between the two of them, Jason knew they were only days away from the final product. Without the antidote, Jason knew they could be doing more harm than good by blowing up the labs, but they had no choice. Leaving the labs running meant that there were more chances of new omegas getting hooked. 

 

He knew Tim had shut down a lab just like this two days ago, and the kid had somehow managed to send his samples over by way of apparent fucking magic, because no one had seen him in the Cave or mansion, but his samples had been there the next day. At least they knew he was in his Nest.

 

Jason would have made Bruce tell him where it was located if he didn't believe that Tim could take care of himself. Dick and Tim might have some weird over the top bond, but Jason just plain loved the kid. 

 

You start seeing a person differently after you almost kill them and they still forgive you. It really brings things into perspective. Not to mention that the Little Bird was incredibly easy on the eyes too. 

 

He was a slip of a thing, Omegan features doing an excellent job of hiding the whipcord strength he had. His hair always looked artfully tousled, and framed his high cheekbones perfectly. His eyes were rounded and large, but somehow always smudged, as if he never got enough sleep. Jason totally understood it why Bruce used Tim as the face of Wayne Enterprises. It was a face that made you want to give up your kingdom for a smile. It was a face that made you want to swear your allegiance and protect. 

 

Sad thing was, Baby Bird had no clue. Kid still looked so damn surprised when he immediately got his way. If Jason had that kind of face he would have used it to get what he wanted every single day. And that was probably why he didn't. 

 

“Hood,” Nightwing’s growl broke into his thoughts, “Let’s go to the next one,” He had already cast a line. 

 

“After you, Big Bird,”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim’s scent was fading from the manor. 

 

It was all Dick could focus on as he punched his way through men night after night. Every Omega’s face that he saw was Tim’s and when he had gotten the autopsy report for the latest omega that had died…

 

Well that hadn’t been a good night. 

 

He couldn’t understand what had happened. He had gone to Tim, apologized, did the grown up fucking thing and the little bird was  _ still  _ freezing them out. 

 

He had replayed that conversation in his head so many times. Tim had said he had understood. He had said it was  _ fine _ . So why was Dick still feeling like he was missing something big? 

 

_ Well maybe, because your omega is avoiding you dumbass.  _

 

Dick threw a thug through a wall. He ignored Jason’s look and leapt onto the next one. 

 

He needed Tim to stop sneaking around the city and come out of his goddamn nest. If he ever figured out where that godforsaken place was, he would have a hard time not burning it to the ground. 

 

_ Make it so he has nowhere else to go,  _ his inner Alpha growled. 

 

The hard line his mouth had set in to caused the hired guns to step back from him, but there was no mercy coming from Nightwing tonight. Dick was almost upset when he finished off the last of the men. 

 

“Hood, lets go to the next one.” 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim cursed silently as a group of men walked into the warehouse. He quickly catalogued the injuries he had gained in the last fight and the amount of weapons he had left, and grimaced at the odds.

 

He counted 11 men. 

 

There was a window on the same level that he was on, but getting to it would take too much time. Especially with the semi automatics the men were carrying. And the rafters wouldn’t provide much cover once-

 

“Benny! Look at that!” 

 

-he had been discovered. 

 

“There’s a bat in here!” 

 

The men crowded around their fallen comrades and immediately started shouting orders at each other.

 

“Where are you, you goddamn bastard!” Rude honestly, his parents had been married. 

 

Instantly every weapon in the room was cocked. Tim knew that if he stayed still they wouldn't notice him, but he couldn’t stay still forever. And sooner or later, someone would come to investigate the upper landing, and then he would truly be screwed. 

 

“Show yourself, you coward!” Really, there was no need for name calling. 

 

His mind flicked over to the comms, but a part of him hesitated. It had been six days since he had been influenced by Alpha hormones and he was  _ just  _ starting to feel like himself again. 

 

But he knew this wasn’t about that. There was the stubbornness that was ignoring the calls on your civilian phone, and then there was the stubbornness that was dying because you were too stupid to make the call. 

 

“Get over here and fight us like a man!” Oh come on. They knew half the batclan was made up of females right? 

 

Tim hesitated a second longer, then compromised with himself. He set off the silent alarm; the one that alerted whoever was closest that he  _ might  _ need backup if they were available, and then jumped into down into the center of the thugs. 

 

“Here I am.”  

 

Gunfire and the clang of metal upon metal echoed through the night.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Jason saw the silent alarm light up the display inside the hood and felt his eyes widen in shock. In front of him he could see Dick cock his head as he listened to an incoming message from his comms, and immediately change direction without even calling back to Jason. He knew Jason would follow. 

 

Tim’s signal came from the third building on their list. It was about ten minutes away from their current location.  _ Should have gone there next _ , Jason thought, pushing himself to go faster. Tim never called for help. And with whatever was going on with him and Dick, that meant that if he called now, he must be in some serious shit. 

 

In front of him, Dick was pushing himself faster, making the dangerous leaps from building to building with no apparent care. Jason wanted to call out to him, but he could barely fault him when he was doing the exact same thing.  

 

_ Just hang in there Tim! Alpha is coming.  _

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim felt a steel pipe slam into his ribs and felt his vision white out. He heard, rather than saw a thug scramble for one of the guns and instantly leapt in that direction. 

 

He had knocked out three men within the first few seconds of fighting, using their bodies and the confusion of the screaming men to avoid the bullets, and then had made it his priority to knock all the guns away. His last batarang had been put to good use in that, but he was wishing that he had it with him now. 

 

He had knocked out another two men with their own weapons, and was working on choking out the man that had went for his gun with his thighs. Looking up, he flipped backwards to avoid a pipe to the face and almost didn’t get up when he physically felt one of his ribs give up on him. 

 

Crap. This was getting bad.

 

He staggered up, vision blurring slightly, and deliriously wondered if he had imagined sending out the silent alarm. Hysterically, he wondered if he should have set up the bat-signal instead, it always seemed to work for Gordon. Realizing his thoughts were veering off into a dangerously ludacris path, he focused himself. 

 

Five thugs left. Five. He could take five. He could take five  _ any day _ . 

 

Red Robin assessed the situation. The thugs had cornered him in a semi circle along the back wall of the warehouse. Back up was apparently not coming. He had at least one broken rib, multiple contusions, a burn that was severely irritated, possible internal bleeding, and more bruises than he had managed to work up in a while. 

 

All in all it was a productive night. Red Robin rolled his neck and willed the pain away. Keeping all the men in his periphery, he bent slowly and picked up a steel baton that had rolled over to him. 

 

Five men. Five men. Five men that thought that he was  _ done _ . 

 

This would be easy. 

 

With a smile, Red Robin stepped forward. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Dick smashed into the warehouse through the upstairs window, Jason seconds behind him. 

 

Dick located the fight immediately and swung over in seconds, arriving just in time to catch a tire iron aimed at Tim’s chest with his hand. He used the momentum to yank the thug forward and then back flip him into the wall, where he hit with a loud thud and then fell down, motionless. 

 

Next to him, Jason had engaged with his own thug and was letting all his aggression out with his fists. There were two left. 

 

“You go high, I go low?” Dick asked. 

 

“You got it,” Tim said, taking a step back.

 

They took out the thugs with ease. Tim, using Dick as leverage to jump and attack the man closest to him, and Dick, taking the other man out at his knees before he could even react. 

 

Within seconds the three Bats were the only ones left standing in the room. 

 

The sound of harsh breathing echoed through the room for a few moments before Nightwing and Red Hood fanned out. The urge to check Tim’s condition immediately was outweighed by Bruce’s lessons in that of securing the perimeter at all costs before lowering their guard. 

 

“Stay here Red. Hood secure the left.” Nightwing took lead immediately, and did a scan of the right side of the warehouse. He refused to look back at Tim, to make sure the smaller bird was staying put. 

 

He goddamn better be. 

 

He did a quick walkthrough, making sure to check both high and low. He came upon the thugs that were already tied up and the lab that had been dismantled. Looks like Tim had been here for a while. 

 

Dick frowned at the lab, seeing something off about it but not sure what. It had been dismantled neatly, he expected nothing less from Tim. The samples sat, packaged and ready to go and then it hit Dick.

 

Ah. 

 

“Left all clear,” Jason said, coming up behind him. His eyes tracked the tied up unconscious men and he let out a low whistle. “Damn, Babybird is a  _ fighter _ .” 

 

Privately, Dick had to agree. There were men strewn unconscious all along the floor of the warehouse. Not counting the single man that Jason had taken out, or then two that Dick had helped with, Tim must have fended the rest of them off entirely by himself. 

 

It was making Dick sick to look at the sheer number. Any one of these sickos could have gotten a lucky hit in, or god forbid a shot, and they wouldn’t have even known Tim was close enough to help. 

 

_ Your omega doesn’t trust you, _ his alpha growled, letting Dick know how disgusted he was. 

 

“Cool it, Wing,” Jason said softly. Dick realized that he was starting to breathe heavily. He shut his eyes tight for a moment and tried to steel himself. 

 

When he opened them he saw a wave of red. Knocking away Jason’s hand, Dick spun on his heel and stalked back to where Tim was waiting for them. He ignored Jason’s attempts to get him to slow down, and made a beeline towards where the omega was standing, looking like he was ready for a fight, despite having just been in one. 

 

A small part of Dick grinned fiercely and growled approvingly. 

 

The other, much larger part, could not contain the fury emanating from deep within and rolling off in waves. Tim had willingly put his life in danger and only called at the very last possible minute apparently. Dick was going to teach him why that was a bad idea if it was the last thing he ever did. He saw Tim steady himself into a defensive position and swallow apprehensively. Good. 

 

He staked right up to the smaller man, forcing him to quickly back up until he hit the wall. 

 

“What were you thinking?” Dick spat, large hands grabbing Tim by the shoulders and hiking him up high against the wall. He could feel Tim’s feet scrabbling against his knees and thighs, trying to get purchase, but couldn’t care less in the moment. 

 

The feeling of his hurt absentee omega in his arms, while they were surrounded by men that had tried their best to hurt said omega, in a room that contained chemicals that would be so incredibly harmful to Tim, was overwhelming him. 

 

Dick breathed hard against Tim’s throat, trying to calm the roar in his ears. Then one sentence got through.

 

“You’re hurting me.” It was muttered so quietly against his hair that Dick almost thought he had imagined it. But the throat muscles against his face had moved and Jason’s voice was getting more insistent behind him. 

 

Dick quickly dropped Tim, letting him find his balance before moving back slightly. 

 

“Damnit Dick!” Jason shouldered past him, inadvertently boxing Tim against the wall. “What hurts, Babybird?” Jason’s hands fluttered along Tim’s body, not touching, but trying to find any open wound. His eyes caught the way that Tim minutely flinched when his hands slid past his ribs, and he knew Dick had caught on too. They need to patch up Tim, but this wasn’t the place.

 

“‘Wing. I have a safe house nearby. We can wrap this place up and be there in fifteen tops.” Jason said, looking at Dick over Tim’s head. Dick nodded, but Tim immediately shifted. 

 

“No. I’m fine. I need to go to my-”

 

“I swear to god if you say Nest, I will burn that place to the ground.” Dick growled. Tim looked up at him, startled. 

 

Dick was glad to finally see another emotion than the blank slate they had been treated to so far. 

 

“Here’s what going to happen. Hood is going to take you, on his bike, to his safe house. I will be following so closely behind baby, it will feel like I’m right there with you.” The implication was clear. “Then we are going to patch you up and have a little chat because you? You, babybird, owe me some  _ cuddles _ .” 

 

Only Dick Grayson could say the word cuddle like it was a threat. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Why didn’t you call for backup?” 

 

Tim stood by the table, still in full vigilante outfit, and stared back defiantly at Dick and Jason, who were mirroring his position across from him. 

 

The safehouse was a very small space, consisting of, from what Tim could tell, a table and a couch. A few nondescript duffle bags were piled in a corner and Tim knew they probably contained weapons. A small kitchenette, containing the barest of bare essentials, was crammed in a corner and Tim guessed the other door on the end was a bathroom. 

 

Jason had driven them both straight here, right after Dick had finished setting the charges and grabbing the samples.Tim would have liked to go over to the lab to make sure none of his samples were damaged in the fight, but Jason had growled when he had taken a few steps further into the warehouse and it was  _ suggested  _ to him that he stay in place and wait. 

 

The ride over had been painful for Tim, who had started to feel the entire effects of the night once the adrenaline wore off. Fortunately, Jason was an expert on his bike and had taken the care to avoid potholes and other dips in the road. 

 

Tim’s inner omega had purred the entire way over. His jaw still ached with how hard he had clamped it to avoid letting Jason know how much he had appreciated being snugly sat behind him. 

 

“I think you’ll notice that I did.” Tim replied coolly, refusing to let the pain spreading up his side distract him. He distantly wondered why Dick was so mad, but then gave up on speculating; the eldest wasn’t the greatest at holding back how he felt. Tim figured he would find out sooner or later. 

 

Besides, it wasn't like Tim was feeling charitable towards him anyway. Granted, he knew that Dick didn’t personally go out of his way to snub Tim, but staring at the elder man now, it sure felt that way. 

 

“Okay. You want to play games? Why didn't you call for back up  _ earlier _ ?” Dick’s voice hadn’t lost its vexed tone since he threw Tim up against the wall.

 

“I was handling it.” He was. He could have won against the last four men. Eventually. 

 

Dick visibly bristled, “The  _ hell  _ you were-...” 

 

Jason cut in with a lighthearted; “You mad, little bird?” 

 

Tim startled, “I...what?” He had been ready to go on the defensive when Jason threw him off track.

 

“It's just, you do stupid things when you are mad.” Jason started forward, unpacking the first aid kit he had grabbed from the shelf as he came closer. 

 

Tim stared at the elder vigilantes, lost for words, and entirely miffed at the accusation. 

 

“I do  _ not- _ ” 

 

“Take off your top.” The order came from Dick, and Jason’s eyebrow shot up in amusement when Tim looked at him, as if to ask if he really had to. 

 

“Come on pretty bird, ain’t nothing I haven’t seen before.” 

 

Tim glared at them a little longer and then decided it would be better to pick his battles. From the clench in Dick’s jaw, it seemed he had quite a few battles heading his way, anyway. He slowly undid the safety catches in the suit, releasing the kevlar layers slowly. 

 

The best thing to do now was to let them take care of him and give whatever protective pack feelings that were flooding their systems an outlet. Maybe if he let them patch him up, he could go back to the Nest and continue running the tests. 

 

He refused to think about the feelings that were flooding his system. Looking at Dick was bringing back all the things he had been repressing over the past week. Apparently, it didn't matter how deep down you shoved them if the reason was standing right in front of you, acting like he cared. 

 

_ He does care. Just not in the way I want.  _

 

Once his safety release was engaged, Jason was there immediately, helping him pull the tunic over his head. Tim’s inner omega purred at the feeling of being cared for like a demented single minded toddler, while Tim himself, winced when his arms pulled up, the stretch not doing anything kind for his ribs. He took one controlled breath after another, trying to calm the pain that had shot up. 

 

Then he realize he was the only one moving. 

 

Jason still had his tunic in his hands, and was staring down at him, utterly still. From his place, Dick was also staring at him, but with an expression that was confusing Tim.

 

He quickly looked down to assess. 

 

Crap. It was bad. Or rather, he didn't think the long term injuries were actually that bad. There were a few freshly scabbed over wounds, some still bleeding sluggishly. Bright purple and red marks spoke of where the thugs had managed to get shots in through his defense. The burn that stretched out along his forearm throbbed in time with the pulsing pain shooting from the nearly black bruise that covered his bottom left rib cage, where he was pretty sure he had a broken rib. From the coloring, there was also some internal bleeding. But since his breathing was fine, he was pretty sure it was a clean break that hadn’t punctured a lung. 

 

“Gotta get you to the cave medbay.” Jason’s voice was tight. Tim snapped his head up to see that Jason was now supporting the same expression Dick was, and Tim still couldn’t figure out what they were thinking. 

 

“What? No! It just looks bad, it's not really-” 

 

“Tim! Look at yourself!” Dick waved a hand towards his battered upper body. “How can you say it's not that bad! We need to get you medical attention STAT. Jay, I’m ready to go. Do you have a car? I don’t want him on the back of your bike across Gotham.” 

 

“Yeah...yeah there’s a Rover in the garage.” 

 

“Guys!” Tim spoke up quickly, “You need to calm down. This is not that bad. It just looks bad. I bruise easily remember?” Thank God he had resisted the urge to say that he had had worse.  _ That  _ would have been a fun conversation. Logically, they should have known that he had worse...unless.

 

Oh. 

 

Well this he could work with. 

 

“Tim. Your rib is  _ broken _ .” Dick’s voice was doing funny things to Tim’s heart.

 

“So wrap it.” Tim stared imploringly at Dick. “Come on Alpha. Take care of me. Here.” Because if he was forced to go to the cave then that was game over. He knew he wouldn’t be leaving any time soon, and that would throw quite the wrench in his experiments. 

 

He also knew that Dick and Jason were not entirely themselves at the moment. Their connections with their inner Alpha voices and who was in control at what moment was different than with how it worked with Tim. With Tim, it was always one or the other. Tim knew that the second they had burst into the warehouse they had been half Alpha and half themselves. He realized that the second their had laid eyes on his battered exposed body the Alpha must have taken over to a much greater extent. 

 

The good thing about the Alpha was that it was not so concerned about things like X-rays and antibiotics because it knew it could smell any changes to Tim. If Tim had been hurt worse than they could help, he would have already been bundled off to the cave. 

 

The better thing was he knew exactly how to appeal to both. He would feel bad about essentially manipulating them, but he had things to do. Priorities. And being taken back to the manor for days of Aftercare was not one of them. 

 

“Please Alpha…” his voice didn’t raise over a whisper, and he could see both Dick and Jason’s eyes go dark as they gave in to their inner selves completely, “Please Alpha take care of me here. I don’t want to go back outside.”

 

Outside where the  _ bad men _ were. Tim was afraid he might have been too heavy handed when he saw a slight tremor run through Jason’s body, but the Alpha quickly relaxed. 

 

Then Jason purred at him. It was so unexpected and Tim should have seen it coming from a mile away. 

 

The whine that broke free from his throat was a purely needy sound and entirely against his will. He almost stepped back in shock but then grimaced when movement ignited all the wounds again. 

 

“Couch.” Dick rasped, finally moving, and to Tim’s relief, starting to undo the catches on the Nightwing suit. “Get on the couch.” 

 

They had so much to talk about but it seemed that he had won this one battle. With any luck he would get help with his wounds, wait till they fell asleep and then get the hell out of dodge. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dick and Jason finally get their heads out of their asses, Bruce Does Emotions, and Tim Angsts. So more of the same ;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Y'all! So A LOT of concern over Dick being a...dick. Wish I could tell you that changes but I'm finding out what happens on the fly here! Enjoy!

Dick sat silently on the floor against the wall, legs stretched out in front of him and watched Tim softly breathe in his sleep. His chest was still bare, the blanket that Jason had draped over him had slipped, but since the room was warm, Dick hadn’t felt the need to tuck it back around the sleeping bird.

 

A few feet away from him, Jason sat, mirroring his sentry position.

 

“I want him, Little Wing.” Dick started, breaking the silence that had stretched ever since Tim had let his eyes finally droop close and slipped into healing sleep. “I want him so bad. I missed him like a limb these past few days. And looking at him now...I wish he would tell me. Tell me what he needs to hear so I can just _say it_ and take him home.” Dick took a deep breath.

 

“Every time I see him, it feels like he is doing his best to rip away from me. Running to fucking Superboy. Running alone into a fight he needs back up on. Locking himself away for days on end. It’s making me want to shake him until he stops.”

 

“Tell me again,” Jason suddenly said. Dick instantly knew what he was talking about. A sigh escaped him and he tilted his head back until it hit the wall and he was staring up at the grimy ceiling of the safe house.

 

“I’ve already told you.” Dick said, mind already replaying the conversation he had had with Tim. Jason stayed silent, waiting for Dick to speak.

 

“...Fine. He was mad that I had asked Clark to look for him. He was mad that I went to Smallville to go get him. He felt like I was being overprotective or whatever ...but I think more than that, he was mad that I left him. Or not mad. Just hurt. I don’t know man it's _Tim_ , you never know what he is feeling because he will _never_ let anyone _in_.”

 

Jason huffed out a laugh and Dick tilted his head in his direction to catch an amused smile.

 

“Well ain’t that right.”

 

“Damn straight. But I apologized little wing, I swear it. I get it; I fucked up. He was coming down from the emotional high and I left him hanging and it was wrong. So I apologized. And I made sure he understood it too. _He said it was alright_. Makes no fucking sense. I don’t know what else to do.” Dick dragged a hand over his face, leaving it over his eyes.

 

Looking at him, Jason almost felt pity. He had already done his fair share of ragging on Dick for leaving their omega alone after his heat, but the thing was, he could secretly understand that too.

 

It was complicated with Tim. Especially for Dick, who could remember a time when Tim considered the Manor his home. When he considered the Bat family to be _his family_. In a perfect world, Tim could be left alone, even in the middle of his heat, and not feel anything off if he was in the manor. Because the feelings of being protected, safe, and cared for would be there.

 

But they had fucked that up.

 

They had let Tim get too far. Left him out of the nest too long. And Tim had disengaged silently.

 

Tim smelled like an Omega without a protector now, and Dick could once remember a time when Tim smelled like the Wayne Pack Omega. When Tim let his guard down, he gave off the scent that let other Alphas know that he was alone and unprotected and ready to be taken. He smelled unclaimed.

 

And none of them could pinpoint _exactly_ when it had happened but their guesses would all be on _point_ , Jason thought sardonically.

 

But when Tim was in the Manor, his scent calmed a bit. He smelled like Bruce, like their pack, like Dick and Jason, like Alfred’s beta scent and even Damian.

 

So yeah, Jason could understand it why Dick might have forgotten this; Tim being in the Manor and Dick’s nose telling him that everything would be peachy because Tim was in the _Manor_ and the manor was _Home_ and home was their _Fortress_.

 

Nothing should have been able to get to Tim there, but Dick’s Alpha hadn’t realized that the biggest threat to their omega was _their omega_.

 

Tim still hadn’t reengaged with the pack. And Jason could understand it; they had really dropped the ball there. But they were trying their best. Heck, they had gotten so far with Tim, but this showed that while Tim might be trusting them with his physical safety, he hadn’t let a single one of them cross over and take care of him emotionally.

 

Which was what he really needed in the end. Red Robin didn’t need protection of the physical kind. This night had more than proved that and his inner alpha had roared victoriously in his chest when they had seen the sheer number of men Red Robin had dropped. But trusting someone to watch your back and trusting someone with your emotions were two very different things.  

 

Omegas were the center of the pack. Times might be shifting and omegas didn’t need to be protected and pampered anymore, but that didn’t mean that the basic rules of biology would change. If the omega didn’t feel emotionally connected with the pack, that pack didn’t have that omega.

 

And they didn’t have this omega.

 

“Fuck it.” Dick looked up startled at Jason, who had suddenly sat up. “Dick, I want that omega,” Jason said, pointing at Tim, “I want that omega for life and I want him bonded to me.”

 

Dick stared at Jason, surprised. “Don’t you want that too?” Jason looked fiercely at Dick. “It's time to stop messing around. We are the motherfucking Robins of Gotham and are you tellin’ me that we can’t get one Omega to fall for us? Naw man, I think we just been pussyfootin’ around. He isn’t meshing with us because we haven’t been giving him any straight answers. Timmy ain’t the type to be in it halfway. I saw when the kid wakes up, we sit him down and have a proper talk. Face to face. Lay it down on the table and see how he feels. He says no, we back off because _no means no_. He says yes…” A light reappeared in Dick’s eyes and Jason felt the adrenaline sweep up within him.

 

Dick leaned forward, “He says _yes_ , Little Wing, and we fuck him within an inch of his life and take him home and do it all over. _Burn_ his goddamn nest down and _keep_ him. Not gunna lie, Little Wing, you are going to have to stop me from _making_ him say yes. Because you are right. Enough is enough.”

 

Jason growled appreciatively low in his throat. “Hows about you and me take home a lost bird Dicky?”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Awareness slowly swept back into Tim. The first thing he felt was the pain, which got more intense as the seconds ticked by until he was ready to cry out. But he stayed still, imitating sleep perfectly until the full memory of what had happened sunk back into him.

 

Oh.

 

Fuck. He had fallen asleep. He could remember a whole bunch of sub vocalizations coming from Dick and Jason as they tended to him especially carefully. He could also remember himself slipping further into a lulled state and, like an idiot, accepting the drugs from Jason’s hand. That had probably been what caused him to fall asleep. Which meant that he was still in the safehouse.

 

Well shit. Tim lay still for a few more moments, straining his ears to hear any type of movement. He couldn’t hear anything, but he was in a room with two previous Robins, so that meant _nothing_.

 

Hoping it would look natural, in case anyone was watching, Tim inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to get all the info he could through scent. In hindsight, inhaling that deeply in such a small space was a terrible idea. Jason and Dick’s scent hit him like a freight train and Tim shocked himself into laying unnaturally still until his body got used to the scent invasion.

 

All of their emotions flooded him and Tim frantically tried to process the feelings of adrenaline, worry, and determination, among many others. Why the hell these two were feeling _determined_ , was beyond Tim.

 

Finally releasing himself from the hold the scent had on him, Tim bit the bullet and cracked his eyes open.the first thing he saw was Jason’s sleeping face. Jason was propped up against the wall directly opposite him, deeply asleep.

 

Tim winced at the position of his neck, knowing that the elder would be sore from both sleeping on the ground and sleeping against a _wall_. Flicking his eyes over, he noted Dick slumped over in a similar position. A part of him wondered if they had been drugged, but taking in the general state of things made him realize that they had probably just fallen asleep...while guarding his sleep.

 

An ache swept through his chest that had nothing to do with the numerous bruises. They would make amazing bonded Alphas someday, he just knew it. Hopefully with someone that let him still come around occasionally.

 

Unwilling to miss the rare chance that had been presented to him, Tim slowly pushed himself upwards, harshly biting down on his lip to keep the pained moans inside. They had all the time in the world for that _later_ , when he was in his Nest.

 

Trying to remember if the floor would creak from the night before, Tim slowly pulled on leg free from the blanket someone had tucked around him and set his foot down carefully. Everything seemed solid so far. Standing up fully, he kept one eye on the slumbering vigilantes, noting the dark shadows under their eyes and wished he could cover them with the blanket. But he knew the moment something touched them or triggered their senses, they would leap awake.

 

So instead, he slowly, painfully, pulled his tunic over his head and grabbed a spare mask from his belt. Looking around, he found the bag containing the samples that he had rescued from the warehouse, sitting near Dick.

 

For a second he hesitated, but the desire to have new material to work with won out and Tim slowly approached the slumbering alpha.

 

The bag lay about a foot away from Tim, and Tim made sure to control his breathing and scent, for fear of his inner omega throwing out a distress signal. The damn thing still didn’t realize that they were in the 21st century and you couldn’t just _lure_ people to do your bidding anymore with scent.

 

Dick inhaled sharply suddenly, and Tim froze, heart pounding. The adrenaline took over, drowning out all noise until Tim couldn’t hear anything but the roaring in his ears. He stared at Dick’s face, waiting for the older man to wake up and catch him in the act of escaping.

 

Slowly, however, it became apparent that Dick was not going to wake. Tim sat in the crouch a while longer, clocking the dark circles under the vigilante’s eyes and was hit with a melancholic feeling. The last time he had taken the time to stare at Dick’s face, there definitely hadn't been this many lines. Dick looked _tired_. Tim’s inner omega slipped from his firm mental grasp and started to beg him to stay. Tim jolted into action, moving away. Right. It was time to go.

 

He slid the bag further away from Dick, wincing at the sound of the soft scrape. Then he realized he had to unzip the bag. Tim stared down at the innocuous looking bag in betrayal. He was so close to the damn door and yet so bloody far. Then inspiration hit him.

 

Tim rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and grabbed the entire bag, slinging it over his shoulder, and ignoring the way the welts screamed in pain as the strap rubbed over them. He raised himself on aching knees and took one last look at the sleeping alphas. One part of him, a very small part, cried out for them to wake up and stop him. He squashed that voice down ruthlessly, turning away and heading for the door.

 

He had already _been through this_. It was nice of them to look after him and patch him up, but he couldn’t be expected to lean on them anymore. Not when he was so prone to getting the wrong idea. They would understand. And, technically he was doing them a favor; now they wouldn’t have to make time out of their busy schedules for him anymore.

 

Tim slipped the domino on, and refused to look back when he carefully unlatched the door and slipped out.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Dick, calm down,” Bruce’s voice rang with authority as he tried  to command his eldest to stand down.

 

Dick paced restlessly in the cave in front of him, seething and barely vocal. Jason stood nearby, doing incrementally better, but also holding a baton that was slowly bending from the force of his grip.

 

“ _Tell me where he is_ ,” Dick growled for the nth time. Bruce stared back unimpressed.

 

“You know I can’t do that. If Tim needs assistance, _he will call._ That is final.”

 

“He won’t,” Jason finally bit out, “He won’t call and you know he won’t. He never calls.”

 

“From what you told me ten minutes ago, he called last night.” Sometimes Jason hated how reasonable Bruce could make things sound.

 

“Bruce. He was in bad shape...he could be hurt. He could be in no condition to call.” Dick tried, appealing to the elder man’s protective instincts.

 

“I already established safeguards for that. He went to his Nest, Dick. I’m sorry, but I cannot tell you where it is. He is safe there and he will heal there and you just have to wait till he emerges. If you are feeling that worried, have Alfred shoot him a text. You might get a response if he isn’t sleeping.”

 

“What the fuck, Old man?” Jason was starting to feel affronted at Bruce’s blatant dismissal of their concerns. “He was in really bad shape. Do you really not care about him that much?” Jason instantly knew it was the wrong thing to say because Bruce’s spine stiffened in the way that meant _business_ was about to be _taken care_ of. But, Dick came up and stood next to him with the same defiant expression on his face, so Jason let the question hang.

 

“On the contrary, I think I am the only one thinking about him right now.” Bruce’s voice was cold pure Alpha Patriarch. Dick and Jason straightened up unconsciously. “You said it yourself, my boy is _hurt_. He went to a place he trusts to _heal_. Why the ever loving fuck would I give his location to you two? Who, and yes _of course I know_ , want to ask him to officially bond. That is wonderful and you have my full support, _but this is not the time_. He is weak and hurt. He is dealing with the emotional fallout of whatever the fuck up of last week was, Dick _shut your mouth_ , I am not done.” Bruce glared until Dick snapped his mouth shut with a clack of his jaw.  

 

“You two will let him heal. If you go to him now he will only question it later. Tim is smarter than both of you, but for some reason, being around you two seems to make his IQ drop. You will have all the time in the world to ask him later, and I mean _properly_ , not in some dingy safehouse or whatever the plan there was.” Bruce noted the way Dick and Jason’s cheeks flared with hidden amusement.

 

His voice took on a softer edge, seeing that his chastisement had finally gotten through, “He loves you two. God knows _why_ , but he does. You need to speak with him clearly and concisely and lay it all out on the table with him. We have a chance to get our omega back, to get _Tim_ back, but you have to do it _right_. Wait till _he_ is ready.”

 

Bruce leaned back and surveyed his sons, both of whom he had apparently shocked into silence. Well good. He too, had been incredibly ready to storm the doors of Tim’s nest when Jason and Dick had stormed into the cave, both leaking furious emotions and worry. But then, listening to what they had to say, and piecing together the details had made him realize that Tim would be fine.

 

That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t swing by later, when his children were asleep, but there was no need to betray Tim’s trust now and give away his secret hideout. Clark had been right; he had to gain Tim’s trust now and this had only been the first hurdle. He was sure there would be more to come, but he was the motherfucking Batman. Bring it.

 

“Alright.” Dick croaked, breaking Bruce away from his thoughts. “Okay, we wait. But the moment he comes out of hiding I’m taking the first opportunity to lay it out. I’m not going to lose him to anyone because I waited too long. I’ll respect his distance for now.”

 

“Damn straight.” Jason nodded emphatically. Bruce couldn’t help but look at his boys and feel pride. Yeah, sometimes they got too over the top and ridiculous. But they always did the right thing in the end, and on occasion listened to his sage advice and made their own lives easier.

 

“Good.” Bruce said archly, turning away to the computer to his his amused smile. “Now can we please talk about the case? What happened last night? Did you manage to bust any labs other than Tim’s?”  

 

“Yeah, we got one right before we went to Red,” Jason said, moving towards his bike and pulling a nondescript bag away from a compartment, “Red must’ave taken the stuff he busted with him because we had it last night but it was gone this morning.”

 

“Oh!” Dick started suddenly, drawing Bruce and Jason’s attention, “Bruce I saw something off last night. I think Tim is running his own experiments, did you know anything about that? He had packed two sets off all the chemicals he found yesterday,”

 

Bruce frowned and turned back to the computer, pulling up the shared files for the antidote they had been working on.

 

“I haven’t seen Tim do any work on that front.” He scanned through the files, checking to see if Tim had adjusted anything or left notes, but there was no trace that Tim had even opened these files before. “He hasn’t added anything to the files,” he said out loud for the other’s benefit. “Are you sure he packed duplicates? Perhaps it was just the different trial samples?”

 

“They were identical, Bruce” Dick was adamant, “I checked them myself last night. He only dropped off one set the other night, right? There should be no reason to have two, unless he is running his own tests. He would have left the bag if he wasn't.”  

 

“Little Bird is trying to create an antidote? But then why wouldn’t he tell us?” Jason interjected, bringing the question in all their minds to the forefront.

 

“It's possible that he has found nothing conclusive yet.” Bruce said, feeling uncertain of his answer even as he spoke it. Something was off that they were not catching. But, he looked at Dick and Jason, whose faces were once again tightening into a tense lines, and decided to be blase about the matter. He would investigate it on his own later.

 

“But Bruce-”

 

“It’s fine Jason. You know how Tim is; he needs to be working all angles of the case in some way. I will ask him to update our notes and touch base once he checks in. Hit the showers you two, you’ve had a rough night.” His tone left no room for disagreement, and for once his eldest Alpha sons obeyed without argument.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Tim, Pick up, I know you’re there.” Kon’s voice echoed through the silent nest and Tim groaned from where he lay half buried under the blankets of the sprawling bed. It had been the one comfort concession he had made to his nest, and he so rarely got the chance to use it.

 

“Tim...come on man. I’m worried.” The slight pleading note in Kon’s voice gave Tim the strength he needed to drag himself out of the bed and walk blindly towards his workstation.

 

“Patch him through, Jeeves.” Tim said tiredly, feeling the aches all over his body light up in protest. He collapsed into his chair and let the chair support his head. Kon’s face grew saturated on the screen when his system let the video call through. Tim mustered up a slight smile for him.

 

“Hey Kon.”

 

“Holy shit.” In Kon’s defense, Tim’s shirt was still off. And the bandages were covering more parts of his body than not.  

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“No! It's not! Did Nightwing…” Tim almost didn’t understand before a surprised huff escaped him and his body warred between feeling amusement and affronted for Dick.

 

“Of course not! God Kon, what are you thinking? He would never. There were a few more thugs than expected last night. It was my fault. I should have called for back up earlier.”

 

“Did you call for back up _ever_?”

 

“Ha. Ha. Kon….So what’s up? You needed something?”

 

“No...I was just wondering if you were going to come back to the tower this week?” Which was Kon-speak for ‘I just wanted to check up on you’. Tim smiled gently at the screen.

 

“Sorry, I’m working a case in Gotham right now. Pretty nasty stuff so I don’t think I’ll be able to get away. Is there a case there? Did you need me for anything?” Already a part of his brain was working on compartmentalizing and adding new space for any possible open cases that would need his expertise.

 

“Nah, don’t worry. There’s nothing here as of right now, but you know how it is.” Tim made a noise of assent. It was true; the Titans got into some serious shit from time to time. “How about your case? Obviously you aren’t taking it easy, but are you being careful? It’s on that Omega drug isn’t is? I saw something about it on the news.”

 

Tim almost sat up in surprise, but caught himself last minute and froze as a favor to his ribs.

 

“Smallville is reporting on Gotham omega suppressant issues?” He asked incredulously. Kon rolled his eyes.

 

“Of course not, I keep track of the things going on in different places you know. Plus, the Gotham Gazette is online.”

 

Tim’s eyebrows raised in amusement as he thought of Kon subscribing to the GG.

 

“Oh, right.”

 

“So how is it going? Did you crack the case yet?” Kon asked, with an amused tone.

 

“It’s not too bad. Haven’t cracked it yet. The hard part isn’t finding the labs, it's finding the guy. Oh, and I suppose creating an antidote.” Tim knew he was venturing in dangerous territory, but what most people didn’t realize was that SuperBoy was an incredible font of knowledge; Cadmus had shoved so much into his brain before they had sprung him. His intellect rivaled Tim’s on certain topics and that was one of the reasons they worked so well together. Kon was often the person he bounced ideas off of, just becuase most of the time the meta could actually understand what direction his brain was going.

 

If he could skirt around why he really wanted to know, avoid any mention of making personal suppressants, and focus on reverse engineering it was possible that they could come up with the chemical composition he needed and get the antidote.

 

“If anyone can do it, you can.” Kon said faithfully. Tim closed his eyes against the sudden fluttering in his chest as his inner omega preened under the praise.

 

_You shut up_ , he thought crossly. Honestly, the thing was so overly eagre at times.

 

“Well that's kind of you. I did just get a few new components that we picked up yesterday, was thinking about working them into the equation, do a few tests…” Tim trailed off and flicked his eyes up casually at Kon.

 

“Oh yeah? Which components?” Hah. Hook. Line. Sinker.

 

Tim fought not to smile too widely as he engaged Kon in discussing the chemicals; it wouldn’t do for him to appear as a mad scientist. Again.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim’s muscles screamed in protest when he finally rolled away from his lab some six hours after Kon had called. He barely felt it. They had made so much headway that Tim could have kicked himself for not getting Kon’s brain in on the project from the start.

 

Kon’s mind was so untainted by opinion in some aspects that talking to him felt like finding the world’s only true facts machine and having it at your disposal. And talking to him was no hardship, Tim mused as he cleared up his work space.

 

They had figured out nearly everything but the last chemical used, which Tim needed to find. And he would. He glanced at the Red Robin suit, thrown to the side yesterday and grimaced at the blood smears and tears in the kevlar.

 

And just looking at it made his body shudder as flash memories of being brutalized hit him. Tim shook his head, trying to physically clear his mind. It was what it was. If he was going to find the cure to the drug, and his own little project, he would have to get out there. A small sigh escaped him as he ignored the call for his bed and instead walked towards the showers.

 

Halfway there, his foot snagged against something and he nearly went tumbling down. Managing to catch himself, Tim looked down to see his foot caught up in a duffle bag that was half hidden under a desk. He was puzzled for half a second before the memory of what was inside hit him and his knees gave out.

 

Shit. He had forgotten all about this. Tim carefully uncurled his foot from the strap and moved away from the bag like it was about to bite him. He sat cross-legged a foot away, ignoring the stretched wounds, and wondered what had possessed him to take the sweatshirt in the first place.

 

It was _the_ sweatshirt. The one that they usually used when practicing against each other. It smelled like Bruce, Dick, and Jason. Damian and Alfred too; Damian probably from when Dick forced him into a hug when wearing it and Alfred from when he had probably held it to clean it.

 

The scents never really washed away though. When Tim had been leaving the manor, what felt like years ago but was only a week, he had grabbed it subconsciously.

 

_Open it. Smell them. Go to them._

 

Tim tried to gather the effort to silence the voice, but he was winded. There was a scent bomb in his safehaven that he had willingly brought in. And it probably wouldn’t have been that big of a deal but, _these are not your alphas_.

 

They were not his alphas. They didn’t want to be.

 

Tim knew they cared. Or rather, they acted like they cared. But he also knew that he couldn’t settle for they type of love they were willing to give. He didn’t want to be cared for he wanted to be _loved_. Kept because they loved him and wouldn’t let him go. He knew his inner omega would settle for the scraps they threw his way, but he was _not_ okay with that.

 

_I can't. I can’t go to them. They don’t want me._

 

And if he went to them he would settle. Because this was Dick Grayson and Jason Todd and you settled for their affections. But when Tim was this far away from them, this unaffected by their scent, he could think clearly and realize that he didn’t just want them for his heats. He wanted all of them. And since they didn’t want that, and he apparently had no self control, the only way to keep the tables even was to avoid them.

 

_Great job on that last night._

 

The memory of hushed voices and sturdy hands holding him swept over Tim and he nearly bowled forward until his face was inches from the duffle bag.

 

They had been so kind last night. His heart ached.

 

Tim steeled his nerves and then kicked the bag back under the table, and as far away as possible. He scrambled to his feet and headed to the showers with renewed determination. A plan was forming in his mind.

 

First, get rid of the sweatshirt. Then grab the spare suit and go out and find the last chemical he needed. Create the antidote. Create the suppressant.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian appears! and then wishes he didn't. Tim angsts! (even more) I keep telling myself I will get tired of writing Tim angst but it hasn't happened yet soooo....

Tim stared apprehensively at the spare Red Robin suit that hung in his closet. For all intents and purposes, it was functional and perfect. Add a single broken rib into the mix and suddenly things got dicey. He had debated taking painkillers to equalize the level of pain, but then he would have to deal with possible delays in reaction times. 

 

In the back of his mind he could clearly hear Bruce lecturing over and over never to go out if they felt compromised. Find a safe house and  _ sit _ . But he really didn’t have that luxury. 

 

A soft chime at his workstation alerted him to an incoming message and Tim tore his eyes away from the suit, glad for the distraction. He steadfastly ignored the duffle bag, still sitting half under the work table where he had kicked it to last night, and pulled up the message. 

 

It was from the Cave. Tim almost didn’t want to open it. Heaving a sigh, Tim let one hand gingerly support his ribs and let the other flit around the keypad to pull of the message. 

 

Oh. Well this. Oh. 

 

Bruce sent him the file containing the work done on the antidote so far. 

 

For a second all of Tim’s nerves lit up in alarm as he thought that somehow,  _ somehow _ , Bruce had caught onto what he was doing. His brain gleefully took  _ because he’s Batman _ , as a reason and Tim was loathe to say that he could argue it. 

 

Forcing himself to take deep meditative breaths, Tim rerouted his brain to follow a more logical path and looked for the message. 

 

_ Review. N said you were also working on the cure.  _

 

Oh.  _ Oh _ . But how had… Tim’s eyes flitted to the bag he had grabbed with so much care last night. Right. They obviously had noticed that the chemicals that Tim had packed last night were missing from the safe house...whenever they had woken. 

 

He knew that would have tipped them off, but he had wanted them too badly. And good thing too, otherwise he and Kon would not have been able to make the breakthrough. Tim lowered himself into his chair, ignoring the snide voice in the back of his head that he was just prolonging his misery by avoiding patrol. 

 

Opening the files and placing his notes side by side, Tim started to look through the proposed antidotes. He could see right off the bat that Bruce still had not made the connection he had made with Kon, but he was so close. He just needed the chemicals that Tim had, and he was pretty sure Bruce would be on the same page as Tim. And he had no doubt that the Bat would take half the time he needed to figure it out. 

 

Perusing further he realized that to his surprise, the two formulas were nearly identical. He went down the entirety of the work, making small personal notes as he went, trying to see if Bruce had done anything differently that he could learn from. 

 

Tim was knowledgeable in chemistry. Or; more than knowledgeable, some would say a bonafide Walter White when he wanted to be, but he knew better than to let that get to his head. Bruce regularly made him suppressants, albeit grudgingly. And now that Tim was being forced to make his own he realized just how difficult that was.  

 

He skimmed the final sentences, nodding his approval, and almost closed out of the file before a new entry caught his eye. Dated for yesterday, it had no notes on it as of yet, but Bruce had taken the time to write out its composition. 

 

Tim stared in disbelief. 

 

The last piece of the puzzle, the chemical that he needed to make the antidote and  _ fix all of this _ , was at the cave. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim eased the Audi into the garage as quietly as he could. It was early in the day and for all intents and purposes, the manor’s occupants should be sleeping or at work. 

 

Tim’s senses had been going haywire as soon as he entered within the boundary lines of the Manor and let him know that the chances of this being an easy in and out were very slim. He hoped that was just his normal foreboding sense though, and not his bat-sense. 

 

Grabbing the duffle bag from the boot of the car, where he had stuck it to avoid any scent leakage, Tim walked to the door and slipped into the Manor’s lower level. All the scent that he had been so desperately trying to avoid, hit him with gleeful force and Tim grasped at the handrail to keep himself on his feet. 

 

Shit. Everytime he left he somehow forgot what it was like to enter the den of four Alphas. And every time he stayed longer than a day he forgot what it was like to  _ not  _ be surrounded by the scent. 

 

Acclimating to either sucked big time. 

 

Trying as much as possible to breathe through his mouth, Tim keyed in the code to the door before anyone could be made aware that he had entered. And now it was just a matter of sneaking down to- 

 

“Drake.” 

 

-the cave. Goddamit. 

 

Tim spun around, holding the duffle bag casually against his side so as to not draw attention to it. He looked up to where Damian was perched on the chandelier like some type of overgrown bird and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Damian! Why aren’t you in school?” Tim asked, his brain scrambling to find a way out of this. 

 

“Oh for the love of-.. _.It is July you simpleton _ .” Ah. 

 

“What are you doing here?” The words were sneered down at him, and Tim repressed a wince. He had thought that he and Damian had reached an understanding, when the little brat stopped attacking him everytime Dick or Jason brought him back, but apparently not. Affecting a bland look, one he knew Damian hated personally since it stopped him from getting a read on Tim, he hefted the bag slightly. 

 

“Brought back some samples for that thing Jay is working on.” 

 

Damian sneered for a moment longer and then jumped down to land effortlessly in front of Tim. Who resisted the urge to snort. Show off; they had all been jumping off the chandeliers when they could get away with it at  _ some  _ point. 

 

“Hand them over and leave Drake.” Damian demanded, thrusting out a hand towards the bag. 

 

“Excuse me?” Tim was taken aback. Sure, he and Damian still fought from time to time, and clearly something had crawled up the little demon’s ass today, but it had been a very long time since they had played the  _ who-really-belongs-here _ game. 

 

“I said  _ leave _ . It's what you are best at doing anyway.” 

 

Tim gripped the straps of the duffle with both hands and gaped at Damian. Technically speaking he wanted to do just that. But he couldn’t; he needed to get the samples that Bruce had and then there was the tiny matter of the sweatshirt that needed to be placed somewhere innocuous because he couldn't bring himself to throw it out. 

 

And he had to handle whatever  _ this  _ was apparently. A part of him desperately wished for Dick to magically appear and save him from what looked like a long argument about something Damian had been stewing over for who knows how long. 

 

So of course Dick didn’t magically appear. 

 

“Damian,” Tim started carefully, “What are you trying to say?” He watched the younger’s expression harden and braced himself, glad that Damian was still at the age where his emotions couldn’t be used to influence Tim’s.

 

Otherwise he might have committed suicide when they had met. 

 

Time shook off the thought and tried to channel in his inner calm. He had a feeling he would need it. 

 

“Are you deaf Drake? I spoke clearly. You are not needed here, so do what you do best and  _ leave _ .” 

 

“Damian...did I do something to offend you?” Because really, the last time he could remember talking to the brat was just before his heat and that was more Damian gruffly warning Dick about the proper care and treatments of an omega in heat. He hadn’t been sure if he had hallucinated it or not, but for the first few hours, Dick had laughed through his kisses so he was pretty sure it had happened. 

 

“I…” Damian’s hesitation alarmed Tim and he almost stepped forward to comfort the young alpha, before remembering that he might actually be in danger of dismemberment if he did any such thing. 

 

“ _ Damian- _ ...” 

 

“It is of no importance! Just give me the bag and leave before you make this manor reek of your aura again!” 

 

What? 

 

“You are...offended by the way I smell?” And he wasn’t juvenile enough to think Damian was talking about his everyday sweat; he  _ had  _ showered before coming. But his scent? His  _ scent _ offended Damian? 

 

“No Drake,” Damian sneered as if Tim was missing a completely obvious point, “I am offended by your audacity to come and go as you please. Destroying the harmony of this mansion at your apparent  _ whimsy _ .” 

 

“I  _ beg  _ your pardon.” Tim felt his temper flare and worked hard to ruthlessly stamp it down. He did everything in his power to avoid being a burden on the family, including  _ not being in the family _ . Where the hell did Damian get off making such claims? 

 

“You can beg all you want.” Tim struggled to keep his fists clenched at his sides and planted not in Damian’s face. “That doesn’t change the truth that you repetitively play with the hearts and heads of the people that reside here. It is getting quite old Drake. And  _ pathetic _ . I would advise you leave now and never return as that would be the best for everyone.” 

 

“Damian.” Tim breathed out through his nose and waited for the rage to fade. “I am really going to need to know  _ exactly  _ what you are talking about. Because I am not playing with  _ anyone _ . And I am free to come and go as I please, this is the 21st century, newsflash; omegas don’t need escorts anymore.” 

 

“Please Drake,” Damian had the audacity to look offended, “As if I would question the mobility of such a tenacious gender.” Well the kid was Pro-Omega Rights, who knew? “I am obviously speaking, if I must be  _ so incredibly clear _ for your sophomoric mind to grasp it, of your effect on the occupants of this manor as you flood it with your  _ scent  _ and then wait for us to  _ acclimate  _ and then  _ leave _ . There are less cruel ways to torture you know. You constantly give us your scent and then take it away; it is  _ maddening _ . And while I would never be caught dead trying to uphold the honor of Todd and Grayson, your increasingly detrimental effect on them cannot be argued. So I, once again, reiterate;  _ leave  _ before they are drawn and we are forced to deal with this cycle of madness again.”

 

Tim felt speared. Every nerve felt like it had been lit on fire and then thrown into a vat of acid. Even more horrifyingly, his throat dried and closed. He stared straight ahead, willing his eyes not to tear up. Somehow he could take hours of abuse on the streets but this. This. 

 

“I…”Oh god was that his voice? “I think…” The bag slipped from his grasp and fell with a light thud to the floor. Distantly he was aware that the chemical samples would be okay since the sweatshirt would have buffered them. 

 

He stood frozen for a few more moments, taking in steely way that Damian stood, blocking his path to the rest of the mansion. Blocking his way from hurting them more. 

 

It seemed that even when he thought he was doing everything possible to avoid it, he was still causing problems. 

 

Something broke inside him and for once he felt completely insecure. The omega inside him reared up and flowed through the massive cracks that had formed inside him. 

 

“Okay...okay um, bye,” 

 

And then he ran. 

 

Ignored the delayed shout after him, Tim sprinted to his car and recklessly speeded out of the garage, he let the omega take care of what needed to be done. He was safely tucked inside his own mind, protected by the hurting growling entity that he usually kept caged within his mind.

 

And for once the omega had gotten the message loud and clear. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Jason wandered through the main hall to the kitchen, intent on seeing if he could persuade Alfred to make him a late breakfast. His eyes stayed half shut as sleep threatened to overtake him at parts, but he strived on. There was  _ shit to do  _ today and while he would have liked to sleep in and ignore the insistent sun (Alfred got downright disagreeable at times) there was no time to waste. 

 

He could smell something delicious in the hall as he neared the kitchen and inhaled deeply. Whatever Alfred was making smelled like heaven. He inhaled again, the scent sticking to his clothes and then froze right beside one of the sub garage doors. Hardly daring to exhale, in case the scent flee his senses, Jason looked around trying to catch a glimpse of what his mind was telling him was real. 

 

He exhaled. 

 

Inhaled. 

 

Tim. Tim. It was Tim.  _ Tim  _ was  _ here _ . But  _ where _ ? 

 

He grabbed the doorknob to the garage and yanked it open, desperately surveying the clearly human devoid lot, in hopes that Tim was just playing a normal game of...hide in the garage. But no. 

 

He brought the hand he had used to open the door knob up to his nose and inhaled deeply again. Tim’s full scent hit him. 

 

Shit. 

 

Jason sprinted back the way he came heading towards Dick’s bedroom. Maybe. Maybe Tim was there. Maybe he needed some  _ sugar _ . 

 

Jason ignored the part of him that scoffed at the thought, unwilling to slow down in his attempt to search for Tim because then that would mean...that would mean  _ what _ ? 

 

Steadfastly ignoring the part of his mind that was trying to get him to listen to logic, Jason slammed open the door to Dick’s bedroom, heart melting as he saw no sign of anyone but a vigilante startling awake. 

 

Easily knocking away the non-lethal thrown at him, Jason sprinted to Dick, who was spluttering. 

 

Then he shoved his hand in Dick’s face. It took a second, possibly less, and then Dick’s eyes were as focused as his. 

 

“Tim,” Dick said reverently, his eyes meeting Jason’s hopefully “Where?” 

 

“Don’t know.” Jason’s own voice was hoarse. 

 

“Find him.” 

  
  


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Red Robin flew that night. And the next. And the next. And then he stopped.  

 

“Kon?” Tim whispered into the night. “I just...if you are listening.” His breath hitched without command. “If you aren’t busy...I just need one night….” And then he was airborne.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Jason followed Dick’s warpath into the cave. They had searched the entire manor top to bottom. Well not bottom, but neither had received the alert that would have indicated the cave was breached and all of them knew better than to mess with the cave’s security. 

 

Tim was nowhere. His scent had faded from the garage already; it seemed as if he had come in and then walked right back out without even a fucking by-your-leave. For no apparent reason. Jason was ready to punch something. Maybe Dick had the right idea here about _ tying Timmy down _ for a while. 

 

Entering the cave, Jason made note of Damian who was sitting at one of their work tables, flipping a knife into the air. A duffle bag sat on the table in front of him and Jason glaced at Dick to see if he was going to take this one. 

 

No dice there, the eldest headed straight for their security tapes. Jason internally sighed and then changed his direction to Damian. 

 

“Whatcha got there brat?” He expected the glare, perhaps a bit more frosty than usual, but he did not expect the answer. 

 

“It is for you.” 

 

“Why,  _ brat _ . You got me a  _ present _ ? You shouldn't have.” Jason delighted in the way Damian’s cheek flared and noted that his expression did not immediately turn violent and instead stayed somber. Distant alarm bells sounded, but Jason was still at the point in his day where he could only handle one problem at a time. Didn’t even have his bloody coffee yet. 

 

“I did not. Drake did.” 

 

And just as if he had suddenly developed the ability to  _ fucking transport _ , Dick was beside them. All thoughts of breakfast vanished. 

 

Jason leaned in and inhaled deeply, getting a whole lot of Damian’s scent from when he must have carried the bag and something so deliciously sweet underneath, in the process of fading to nothing. 

 

“He was here?” Dick’s voice was hoarse, but Jason understood the underlying question; they had very nearly been convinced the whole thing was a hallucination at times, hence Dick’s little trip to the moniters. 

 

“Tch. He stopped by earlier to drop off the samples retrieved yesterday.” 

 

“Well don’t make us  _ beg _ , did he say anything?” Jason stifled the urge to shake Damian. In the same moment, Dick asked;

 

“Why did he  _ leave _ ?” 

 

Damian looked at them for a moment, expression inscrutable, before turning to Jason surprisingly. “He did not say much. Just his...his usual drivel.” Damian scoffed, in a tone just on the wrong side of forced. Jason instantly narrowed his eyes but was put off from continuing his interrogation when Dick moved towards the bag. 

 

The eldest grabbed the edge, and yanked it towards himself, inhaling deeply. 

 

“Oh yeah. That’s Tim.” Dick said, a smile finally beginning to break out onto his face. Damian looked even more perturbed. Jason was seriously beginning to suspect something but,  _ priorities _ . 

 

“Open it Dickie.” 

 

Dick unzipped the bag carefully; sit through one class of Batman’s Unknown Package Safety Seminar and you never lose the habit. Then he frowned. Three seconds later Jason figured out why. 

 

Their own scent was wafting out to them.

 

Dick reached in and pulled out four securely capped vials, most likely what Tim retrieved last night, and set them carefully on the far side of the table. Then he pulled out a bundle of cloth. 

 

“Is that...the workout sweatshirt?” Jason asked, baffled, as Dick shook out the bundle to reveal exactly what Jason was referencing. 

 

“It...is?” Dick and Jason stared at the sweatshirt incomprehensibly for a few long moments before Damian’s loud annoyed sound broke through the confusion. 

 

“Tch, you peons. It is a scent marker obviously. An omega will use them when they are…” Damian’s voice trailed off just enough for Dick and Jason to look up to catch his eyes widening.

 

“What Dami?” Dick asked, finally beginning to get as alarmed as Jason was about the shady way Damian was acting.  

 

“...an omega will grab a scent marker subconsciously when they are leaving their den for an extended period of time. To keep the scent of their alpha close.” 

 

“Yeah, no we got that. You have something else to say?” Jason had a horrible feeling that he would, in fact, have to deal with whatever the fuck Damian did now. Because while he would much rather deal with figuring out where Tim had bounded off to, he had a  _ feeling  _ Damian knew  _ something _ . 

 

“I...might have made a slight error in judgement.” 

 

Fuck. A sinking feeling in his heart make Jason reach out to grab the sweatshirt to knead it between his fists. Give them a way to keep busy. 

 

Damian’s ‘slight error in judgements’ usually meant that he had catastrophically fucked up and knew it. That he was only telling them about it because he couldn’t fix it on his own. 

 

“Damian.” Dick’s voice was ice cold, “What did you do?” 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim worked. And worked. And slept. And worked. 

 

The days and times blurred into one another as he slipped between being logical and conscious and letting the omega take full reign. It had been so long since he had done that, not even in his heats did he fully let himself switchover. The omega tended to say things that  _ it  _ meant wholeheartedly, just not what Tim would have wanted. Or felt. Or liked. 

 

But they were apparently on the same page these days. 

 

And good for that now, because the omega was demanding that he go back and eviscerate the Alphas for daring to reject them. Damian telling it that it was essentially a bad omega was apparently the first and only straw necessary for the primitive haughty creature to completely reject the family. He managed to appease it by telling it that they never really had him in the first place. 

 

It was often not amused by his willingness to do nothing. 

 

On the plus side, in the time when his logical mind lay sleeping within his own mind, the omega somehow acquired heaps of blankets and throws and pillows and turned his bed at the Nest into a  _ nest _ . 

 

Tim never had a  _ nest  _ before, but laying in it now, he understood why omegas made them. His Nest had been a named parody of something that he had never really understood and now felt was a joke that rebounded on him. 

 

He should have had a  _ nest _ . There had to have been,  _ should  _ have been  _ one  _ place he felt secure in before this. 

 

Instead, he had made himself one out of clinical labs, work spaces, and gym equipment and pretended that was enough.

 

But no matter. He had one  _ now _ . Omegas made them when they felt at home. The fact that he had never  _ nested  _ anywhere was telling. But apparently he was doing it now.   

 

_ We’re really giving them up huh? _ Tim thought at himself, now completely at ease with taking to his own mind. 

 

_ Other alphas. Better alphas. Not these. Never these. _

 

Huh. Well okay. 

 

Tim rolled to his side and grabbed another pillow, hugging it close before closing it eyes and drifting. 

 

At some point he woke and worked until he realized that between one blink and the next his coffee had disappeared. Then he slept. He knew that he patrolled in the meantime. The omega taking over while he watched. It was angry. He watched himself clean up the streets far away from the docks and blinked and was back home stepping in the shower. 

 

This cycle continued but he was unable to say for how long. 

 

Sometime in the middle he figured out the antidote. He stared at the finished composition blankly, knowing that he should feel some measure of elation, but nothing was coming to him. He sent it off to Bruce, knowing the man could synthesize it and test it much better than he could. He easily swiped past the messages that were piling up, his omega growling as Dick’s, Jason’s, and even Damian’s names flashed past as they messages were sent to his recycle bin. 

 

His phone had been off for a while. He was pretty sure he had turned it off before he had even arrived at the Nest that night. 

 

He looked at the unopened messages from Bruce and Alfred, knowing that at any point Bruce could lose his cool and break his promise and invade.

 

_ Nest unsafe? _ The omega queried. 

 

Not sure. 

 

Tim stared at the messages for a while longer, finally feeling awake for the first time in a while. The omega hummed underneath his skin, but lay complacent. Tim knew it was curious about the defensibility of the Nest. 

 

Tim swiped the messages away. He took a shower and walked to his closet. He had figured out the antidote. The work on the suppressant lay scattered all over his work desk and he considered swiping it all to the floor. Then logic took over and let him know that the ensuring fire mixed with the fumes would kill him in three minutes. 

 

He ignored the work table. 

 

There were a lot of suppressants out there. Being sold on the blackmarket. A lot of them were even safe. Ish. He could work on them. 

 

But for right now, Tim was going to indulge himself. This one last night of being with someone that didn't mind his presence so much.Then he would go back to work. 

 

Tim locked down the Nest and slipped out into the darkened nights. He walked in the general direction of the docks, where the buildings helped provide a lot of blind spots. Then he called out. 

 

“Kon? I just...if you are listening.” His breath hitched and Tim felt the entire weight of the last few days crash into him.“If you aren’t busy…” He was a bad Omega. The Alphas he had tried so hard to love were being  _ hurt  _ by him. By his inability to be their complacent fucktoy. But he couldn't. He just  _ couldn't _ . “I just need one night….” And then he was airborne.

 

“Oh,  _ Tim _ .” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim finally gets somewhere. Kon is too good to be true. Dick and Jason are still playing checkers TimIsPlayingChess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws chapter to the wolves* 
> 
> *Runs*

**CHAPTER 7**

 

“Let me get this straight” Dick said, pushing forward against the table, looking as if he was wishing it would vanish out of his path, “My omega was in this house. My omega  _ voluntarily  _ came here for the first time in god knows how long and  _ you sent him away _ ?” 

 

Damian winced. And looked incredibly grateful that the worktables in the cave were not known for their disappearing acts. 

 

“I did what I thought would be the best for everyone with the knowledge that I had at the time. I know different now.” Damian said stiffly. 

 

Jason growled, pacing restlessly. The sweatshirt twisted in his hands as he dug his fingers in, wringing the fabric. A steady haze of acid green threatened to rise up behind his eyes but he resisted it with brute force. He didn’t want the pit’s anger. He was already feeling too much of his own.

 

“And what  _ fucking revelation _ did you suddenly have demon brat?” He snarled.

 

“I...was not aware of the reciprocal nature of the bond between yourselves and Drake.” 

 

Dick slammed his hands down on the table. 

 

“ _ Bullshit _ . Jay and I drag Tim back here for his heats every month like  _ clockwork _ . We include him in our scentings for the love of God. This is his home.  _ What gave you any right to kick him out?” _  He seethed.

 

Damian, to his credit, did not flinch in the face of the elder Alpha’s anger. He expression shifted to defiant instead. 

 

“You said it yourself! You  _ drag  _ him back here-...” Damian started before Dick cut him off angrily.

 

“Because Tim  _ has  _ to be dragged! That’s just who he  _ is _ . He finds it hard to-..” 

 

“And you do not see anything wrong with that?! That the omega that you have claimed is clearly unwilling-..”

 

“Hey!” Jason shot, eyes narrowing,  “There is nothing  _ unwilling  _ about it. We never force Tim-”  

 

“I did not mean it like  _ that _ , but you must admit that at first glance it blatantly appears that he does not want to be in your relationship.”

 

“Shut the fuck up Damian. You don’t get to have a say in this. You know nothing about our relationship.” Jason said coldly. Dick did nothing to check his brutal words. 

 

“What gives you the right,” Dick said in a carefully controlled voice, “to dictate our relationship? Please tell me so I can relieve you of the apparent entitlement that you are feeling.” 

 

“Oh please Dick. Obviously him being  _ born  _ gives him the fucking right. Goddamn  _ blooded  _ demon brat. As if that matters to  _ anyone _ .” Jason sneered. 

 

“You’re right. Fucking hell Damian, I thought you got over this immature bullshit, but clearly not-” 

 

“Because he is hurting you!” Damian finally screamed back, startling Dick and Jason into silence, “He is hurting  _ you  _ and you are hurting  _ him  _ and neither of you realize it!”

 

“What?” Dick asked, looking at Jason to see if he had any idea what Damian was talking about. The other Alpha shrugged at him, confusion suddenly adding itself into the swirling anger he was trying to stamp down.

 

“Who is hurting who?” 

 

Damian took a deep breath and steeled his voice. 

 

“Drake. Is hurting you. And neither of you see it. Everytime he comes around you two act like...like...like  _ puppies  _ with a new  _ bone _ . And then when he leaves you  _ shatter _ . It is pathetic to watch. You...are easily swayed by his moods and his actions. It is  _ unhealthy _ . His scent only  _ just  _ fades from the manor before he floods it again and tricks us into thinking he is  _ ours  _ and then leaves again. What kind of Alphas can't make their omega  _ stay _ ?” 

 

Jason and Dick gaped. And then Jason dropped the sweatshirt on the table and dragged a rough hand over his face. 

 

“You...Fuck. Dickie, you take this one.” He dropped into a chair and sighed deeply. Dick, however, seemed to be incredibly focused as he stared at Damian deeply.

 

“...Ours? Damian, ours?” Dick asked carefully. Damian immediately blushed, his dark skin flushing red in a way that was almost amusing. 

 

“No! I mean...I...I have grown accustomed to his presence here.” Damian said through gritted teeth.

 

Dick finally relaxed out of the aggressive stance he had been locked into from the moment Jason had burst into his room, hand smelling like Tim. He sagged against the table and wondered if everyone’s life was as complicated as his. 

 

“You didn’t kick Tim out because of your rivalry. And you didn’t kick him out because you consider him to be unworthy. You kicked him out because...it hurts when he leaves. Right?”  If Damian refused to answer Dick was going to crack him open like a clam. This was not the time for the emotionless bullshit the League had stuffed into the youngest Alpha’s head. 

 

“My...Alpha grows distressed when Drake leaves.” Damian said grudgingly.  

 

Jason barked out a laugh, putting up both hand placatingly when Dick and Damian turned to glare at him, “Hey, no, same here buddy. You won’t believe the shit I start to think. It really helps to go through the cases he’s cracked and watch some of the training vids. Puts your hysterical instincts into perspective. Baby bird ain’t helpless.” 

 

“Damian,” Dick called lightly, looking every inch the weary big brother that he was, “You need to understand one thing. I get where you are coming from, trust me I do. But Tim is his own person and he is free to make his decisions. And if that decision is to leave and spend his time elsewhere, that is his own choice and we have to respect it. I can’t even  _ describe  _ to you how much I want to drag him back here and keep him locked up. But we are not our instincts.” Dick looked as if he was experiencing some kind of revelation as he spoke, but Jason kept his mouth shut. Let Dickie work through this one on his own, and as a plus the Demon was actually listening for once and would probably learn something. 

 

“And it was so sweet of you to try and protect us kiddo. But these are our choices. It wouldn’t be worth it to go after an omega that rolled over at the first growl. We go after Tim because  _ Tim  _ is worth it. He knows  _ he  _ is worth it. We just have to convince him that  _ we  _ are worth it. It's a dance that's been going on for centuries before us and will continue for centuries after. You could settle.  _ Of course _ you could settle. But damn, someday you'll understand. When you are holding your beautiful fearsome omega in your hands and he just  _ relaxes  _ there after fighting so hard? That;s a feeling you’ll never get anywhere else. That’s why we go after Tim.” 

 

“Damn straight.” Jason grinned, displaying all his teeth.  _ Finally _ . 

 

“I...see.” Damian said slowly, looking as if he was trying to put his thoughts in order. 

 

Jason cocked his head, a thought suddenly coming to him. “Hey. Before you said that you gained some knowledge about some shit that made you realize you were wrong. What was it?” 

 

“Oh, he had your scent marker.” Damian said matter of factly. “Obviously it was untouched and still reeks of your scent, but he took it with him, perhaps even subconsciously...I did not know it before but if he is subconsciously keeping your scents with him that must mean that he has formed a basic beginnings of a  bond with you. Or at least he did. He did bring it back after all.” 

 

All three of them turned to stare at the discarded sweatshirt, cold sweats and trepidation suddenly flooding their bodies.  

 

“Aw Fuck. We have to find him.”  . 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Kon?” Tim’s voice was barely a whisper in the empty field that they lay in. But he knew Kon had heard him. “Am I using you?” 

 

He stared up at the endless night sky, that sprawled above them. Millions of stars twinkled down at him, as if amused that he was feeling so distraught when he really was just a speck. Oddly, he found a lot of comfort in the thought. 

 

Next to him, Kon let out a long satisfied exhale of breath. 

 

“I used to think that I was going to die in the tube.” He said, warmly. Tim turned to look at him and saw that Kon was also stargazing. But there was a light in his eyes that had nothing to do with the stars. 

 

“It wasn’t even a cognizant thought; it was just that I knew all things went through a process called death, after which they were simply not there anymore. And I thought I would go through that process silently one day, in the tube, and eventually someone would notice. Maybe the second it happened. Maybe in a few days. Maybe in a few weeks.” 

 

Tim sat up silently. He looked down at Kon who turned his head to smile at him before turning back to the stars. 

 

“I thought I knew so much. But I didn’t. That night they broke me out was the first night I ever saw the moon. I knew what it looked like. I knew the circumference, its diameter, its stages, the amount of light it emits. And I knew  _ nothing  _ because when I looked at it, really with my own eyes  _ looked  _ at it, I realized that it was the most beautiful thing. No one can turn that into numbers and drive it into your brain. No one can really describe  _ anything  _ to you. It was my number one source of  comfort for so many years.” 

 

Kon quieted again, expression turning a little bashful. Tim leaned forwards slightly, cocking his head. Kon met his eyes again and then took a deep breath. 

 

“And then I met you. You were...the first omega that I met, but that first time, I didn’t realize what you were. Scent was not a thing that they could program. So I didn’t know. I knew there was something different, something that made you...you. You looked at me and I forgot all about the moon. I followed your heart beat. Your scent. Your words. The way you used to look at me from behind Nightwing at the team meetings.

 

“The moon might have made me realize what it was to really live. But meeting you made me realize what it would have meant to die alone.”

 

Tim stared at Kon, eyes wide and barely breathing. 

 

“I think I fell in love with you the second I met you, You were the first  _ you  _ I had ever met. You were-  _ are _ , the most caring, most selfless, most heart-wrenchingly emotional person I have ever known. So when you ask if you are using me, I believe the answer is no. You can’t take advantage of something that you are freely given. And I will always freely give my friendship to you, not because you are an omega, but because you are  _ Tim _ . You gave me so much more than I could ever hope to explain.” 

 

Tim turned away with a sob before he could realize what was happening. Instantly he was on the ground on his side, face buried in Kon’s neck and body enveloped in a strong embrace. 

 

“Aww shit, I didn’t mean to make you  _ cry _ . Damn Bart was right, I shoulda practiced in the mirror.” Kon said, holding him tight and running fingers through his hair.

 

Despite himself, Tim let out a hiccupping giggle. 

 

“He...he probably just wanted to make fun of you.” 

 

Kon huffed out an amused breath. 

 

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” 

 

They lay in silence for a few moments, before Kon rolled them over so he was hovering over Tim. Tim squeezed his eyes shut harder before opening them to see Kon’s face backlit by thousands of stars staring down at him with an expression that made his heart ache. Then the meta smiled wistfully at him and Tim felt something inside him break. 

 

“You don’t love me,-” Kon started calmly.

 

“I do!” Tim shot, immediately trying to sit up so he could find the best way to relay to Kon exactly how much he meant to him. But Kon pushed him back down flat with a steady hand. 

 

“Shh I know. I know it's okay.”

 

“No! Kon you  _ have  _ to believe me, I do love you.” 

 

“Babe. I  _ know _ . I started wrong, let me finish.” Kon said, staring imploringly down at Tim, who eventually sagged back to the ground and lay pliant. 

 

“Let’s try it like this; I know you love me. We don’t say it ever but I know what you do for me. And you know what I do for you. It might seem like I just confessed my undying love for you, and technically I did. But it wasn’t a confession because you already  _ knew  _ babes. And you also know that I would do anything for you, I’d bond you in an  _ instant _ . But that thing that we do? That thing where we torture each other by forcing the other to watch carefully to figure out what's  _ needed  _ and  _ wanted  _ without having to  _ say  _ a single thing? You’re doing that to me right now. I’m getting all the signs and I’ve read all of them loud and clear.”

 

Despite himself, Tim grinned up at Kon for finding the words to so perfectly describe their friendship.

 

“Of course you love me. I mean look at me,” Kon said, grinning back and flexing his arm muscles. Tim rolled his eyes and shoved one of his shoulders against an arm. Of course, it didn't move an inch. 

 

“But you need me as a friend. And, being 100% honest here; I don’t mind that. I  _ could  _ bond with you. We’d make a bombass power couple dude.” Tim snorted but didn't deny it. “But you’re gone for someone else. And if I wasn’t trying everyday to be the man you want me to be, to hold myself to that standard, I’d tell you they aren’t worth it. Tell you to give ‘em the finger and hit the road with me. But since I am the greatest BFF to ever live, why don’t we table that fairytale for the next life and you spill all your manpain that you’ve been keeping from me for the past few weeks.”

 

Tim stared up at Kon’s eyes searching deep within himself. He had, arguably, the world’s most perfect man hovering over him and yet he was feeling relief at hearing that he would be content to stay friends. 

 

_ There’s something wrong with you.  _ His omega said testily. 

 

Tim sighed and Kon waited. A tiny hysterical part of his brain told him that Kon was doing a plank over him. He wanted to see how long he could make him hold it. 

 

But he was tired. Tired of holding his secrets. Tired of holding all his feelings in. Tired of being lonely and feeling nothing. So he gave in.   

 

“They don’t love me” He whispered, doing Kon the courtesy of looking him straight in the eyes and not off to the side as he desperately wanted to.  

 

“Tim. No one is  _ that  _ brain dead.” And  _ that  _ was why they were best friends. A huff of laughter escaped him, dancing away into the night sky. 

 

“ _ Kon _ .” 

 

“Tim.” 

 

“I’m serious. I screwed up. I let myself think they...wanted me. And I was very recently made aware that I was apparently kidding myself. I built this whole narrative in my head because...they...they are just so  _ giving _ . But it turns out I was just delusional and the entire time I was hurting them.” 

 

“Hurting them?” 

 

“Yeah. Robin enlightened me.” 

 

“... _ Robin _ . Enlightened you.  _ Tim _ .” 

 

Tim squirmed under Kon’s disbelieving gaze, and this time when he insistently pushed against the Meta’s chest, he gave in and moved off Tim so he could sit up. 

 

“Tim. I need you to think very carefully about this. Robin said something about your relationship with  _ Nightwing  _ and you took it to heart? Are we just going to pretend he hasn't spent the last few years trying to sabotage your relationship there?” 

 

“He...made some very good points.” 

 

“ _ Tim _ .” 

 

“I don’t know! I just...it’s not like that with him anymore. Hasn’t been for a while. Someone taught the Demon Brat to be civil and I got used to it. So when he said...what he said, it struck a tone with me that maybe he’s right. And...I think he really really is Kon. I think I fucked up there but I can’t do it. I can’t be the kind of omega that they want.” 

 

“Okay hang on. Lot’s to unpack there. Tell me what he said. And tell me what you think is going on with Nightwing and his, ugh, needs.” 

 

So Tim told him. 

 

He told him about feeling abandoned after his heat, about being left alone. He told him about Dick’s painful words in Kon’s bedroom, and then the tender way they held him that night when he had taken a beating so bad that he was still feeling it. He told him about what Damian said, but skipped over describing the numb state that he had spent the last three days in. There were some things that he needed to protect even Kon from. 

 

After he was done a giant exhale escaped him, as if he had set something free that he had been dragging around for a while. Kon stared up at the sky from when he had let himself fall back, content to let Tim talk it out. 

 

“I’m going to tell you something don’t freak out.” 

 

Tim quirked an eyebrow questioningly. 

 

“I brought you a ring.” 

 

“Kon. I’m freaking out.” He was. 

 

“Exactly.” Kon sat up triumphantly and beamed at Tim. Who stared back completely confused. 

 

“Okay fine. What? Still freaking out and we  _ will  _ go back to that.” 

 

“Everything you told me has been based your your initial reaction of feeling abandoned after your heat. You never  _ asked  _ Nightwing or Red Hood if they wanted to bond with you, you  _ assumed  _ they didn’t based on a throwaway line from Nightwing after he flew overnight from Gotham to Smallville. And we both know the guy isn’t known for waxing poetic.” 

 

“Kon. Ring.” 

 

“My  _ point  _ is, maybe you got caught up with your initial reaction; feeling like you had been abandoned, so that everything that happened afterwards basically felt like it was proving your point when in fact, it didn’t mean anything. You only looked at things one way, through one lens and you missed all the other cues. Maybe Nightwing didn’t mean it in the way that you took it.” 

 

“He said it was his  _ duty _ ! I don’t know many different ways to interpret that!” Tim shot. 

 

“Okay, fair. But he also came all the way to Smallville to come get you. I don’t know about you but that had nothing to do with duty. And trust me man, you didn’t see the expression on his face when I woke up. There was nothing  _ platonic  _ about  _ that _ .” 

 

“Why...why are you  _ defending  _ them?” Tim asked, feeling as if the world had spun on its axis in the wrong direction.

 

“You want me to.” Kon said, matter of factly.  

 

“I…” Tim paused, entirely thrown off by Kon’s words, and out of nowhere was yanked off his metaphorical feet and shoved deep into his own mind. 

 

The omega had taken over. 

 

“ _ They hurt us _ .” He growled. From where he was watching behind his own eyes, Tim groaned. He saw the exact moment Kon realized who he was dealing with, made clear by the widening of Kon’s eyes and the gaping expression his face took on. 

 

“Woah. Hey.” Everybody; his best friend. 

 

“ _ They are not worthy. _ ” He hissed, “ _ You are a good alpha. We will take you _ .” Oh hell no. Tim raged against the iron holds. 

 

_ Can you not scare off my best friend? _ He screamed inside his mind. 

 

“Oh wow. Dude. Damn well thats-...see listen so like, I would. But Tim’s not really into it.” Kon stammered. 

 

Kon, you fucking idiot. 

 

“ _ He is simple-minded. You are good Alpha. _ ” Tim rolled his eyes, _ you are ME. _

 

“Gosh well thanks. But still I think Tim is really into those other guys-” Kon tried. 

 

“ _ Unworthy _ .” 

 

“Right. Those unworthy guys. But maybe you need to give them a second chance?” Tim almost felt heartened by his friend’s efforts to reason with a primal creature. 

 

“ _ They insulted us _ .” 

 

“Yeah. Alphas can make dumb mistakes like that huh?” 

 

Tim felt himself stare Kon up and down. “ _ You will not _ .” he declared. 

 

As Kon stuttered and blushed, Tim gained a stronger mental foothold and started to drag the omega back down. The unrepentant omega that was pleased as punch with itself and was content that its message had been delivered, so it wasn’t difficult. 

 

_ Why not this one? _ It asked curiously.

 

Because he is my  _ friend _ . Tim said fiercely, still feeling miffed that it had managed to take over.

 

_ Friend can be lover. Protector. Mate. _

 

No. I  _ need  _ him as my friend. Lovers can  _ leave  _ but friend’s bounce back to each other. 

 

_ You live in fear. _

 

“Tim!”  Kon’s voice broke into the mental conversation Tim was having with himself. 

 

“Hey...sorry. I’m back.” 

 

“Kinda lost you there for a moment buddy.” Kon said, raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Yeah it's...been happening. Recent development.” Tim glanced off to the side. 

 

“I’ve never met him before.” Pointedly. 

 

“Very recent development.” 

 

“Oh. So...he approves of me?” There was a glint in Kon’s eye that was making Tim’s own twitch. 

 

“It has a very narrow world view. Congratulations, you have been deemed worthy by a prehistoric biological gender trait.” Tim said lightly. 

 

“Aww don’t talk about yourself like that.” Kon said leering. 

 

Kon deserved the shove that knocked him off balance and onto his side. It probably would have made Tim feel better if he hadn’t collapsed laughing.

 

“You brought me a ring.” Tim stated. Kon sat up and looked at him searchingly, before letting out the same content breath he had let out before. 

 

“Of course I brought you a ring.” 

 

“...but why?” 

 

“Because I read somewhere that that’s what you did with an omega you love. Almost gave it to you too, then Bart found it and explained to me what it really meant. Those girl mags really need to be more specific. Seriously dude.” 

 

Once again, Tim found himself nudged to a helpless reaction. A laugh escaped him and he looked fondly at his best friend. 

 

“What would I do without you Kon?” 

 

“Die alone surrounded by machines and your cats.” Kon said matter of factly. 

 

Tim groaned, “You  _ know  _ I don’t have cats.” 

 

“Bro. You would do crazy cat Robin  _ so well _ , I’m telling you just get one. Uphill from there.” 

 

“Shut up….Crap. I’m going to have to talk to them aren’t I?” The omega growled but didn’t surge against his barriers. 

 

“When have you ever ran away from anything?” 

 

Tim looked pointedly at Kon and then at the empty field in the middle of nowhere. 

 

“I’m your BFF. It’s not running away it's _ hanging out _ .” 

 

“Of course.” 

 

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” Kon said, easily rolling through his feet. “Sounds like it's going to storm and I know you need your thunder cloud hair treatment to keep it nice and staticky.” 

 

“ _ Kon _ .” 

 

\--------------------------------

 

Tim walked briskly through the empty streets of Gotham, the rain already doing a great job of soaking through his clothes. 

 

But he wasn’t feeling it. 

 

Kon’s voice was ringing through his ears as he kept remembering what the Meta said to him right before he flew off. 

 

_ “Tim. I need you to know. I’m giving them this chance...but maybe next time I won’t be Mr. Nice Guy, you feel me?”  _

 

The look that Kon gave him as he stood within the circle of his arms made Tim’s ears flare. Oh he heard him alright. The meta had then flown off with a playful peck to Tim’s nose, before he could protest. 

 

Tim felt as if he was somewhat in a daze. Intentions clear for the first time in a while, and feelings finally settling. Having Kon be a mirror to his freaking soul really set things in perspective. 

 

As much as he hated it, he would have to talk to Dick and Jason and just lay himself bare. If it turned out that they didn't want him then fine. But it was time to find out for real, because he couldn’t keep playing the game with his heart. 

 

It was then, at that moment when he looked up determinedly, that he finally noticed that he had walked straight into a trap. 

 

It wouldn’t have been obvious to any normal person, but Tim had been trained by Batman. So he could see the two men walked supposedly casually down the street towards him, were in fact, not so casual. Through a car rearview mirror, he saw that another two men were coming up from behind. 

 

Tim forced himself to remain calm as his brain raced. 

 

_ Who were they?  _

 

He wasn’t wearing Red Robin. And the hood was covering his face so there was no way they had spotted him as Tim Wayne and were looking for ransom. Then what….

 

A chill ran down his spine. 

 

He looked up just as one of then men came within five feet of him and smiled crookedly. 

 

“Hey beautiful.” 

 

An omega. They were going to kidnap him as an omega. And he had to let them do it. 

 

Tim tried to make his defensive attacks seem weak and feeble, his screams for help the only real action he was emitting. 

 

“Oh god, please don't! Just let me go!” He cried, willing tears into his eyes and straining with half his strength against the arm against his middle. It was actually hurting quite a bit as pressure was put against his ribs. 

 

“Shush beautiful. We’s gunna take care ‘a you.” A dirty handkerchief was shoved into his mouth and Tim pretended to faint, going limp to the sound of chuckles. 

 

He felt the weight of the homing beacon against his leg and was planning out a series of moves that would make it look natural for him to press it, when a sentence made him pause. 

 

“The Chemist is gunna love this one.” 

 

The Chemist. They were going to take him to The Chemist. 

 

Well that changed things. If he pressed it now, there was no doubt that he would be rescued before he even got to find out where The Chemist was hiding. He would just wait and see then. Hopefully they would get to where they were going soon.  


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That plot getting in the way of Tim's angst tho.

It had been days since they had heard from Tim. He had sent them the antidote a few days after going dark, which had appeased Bruce, but anyone could see the tightness in the Bat’s eyes when he glanced at the untouched things Tim had left in the Manor and Cave. 

 

Bruce had set the antidote to run a few tests, looking for any and all complications that might occur, but from his glance at the formula, he had been pretty sure that it was perfect. 

 

Now if only he could find its elusive creator to tell him that, life would be great. Except, of course, with Tim being Tim, it seemed as if he had disappeared off of the face of the planet. 

 

And while he valued privacy, one thing he would not condone was a possibly hurt bird suffering alone. So, with a mental apology to Tim, Bruce gave in to his other children and put a Bat Alert on Tim’s status as missing. 

 

They were officially in Search and Rescue mode. 

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Bruce walked around the SmartTable, entering a sequence of codes that Dick didn’t recognize. The Bat and his birds were present in the cave, all gathered with one object; locate and retrieve their lost omega and bring him home. 

 

“Tim’s Nest is currently set to incapacitate anyone that is not him immediately.” Bruce said, as a 3D hologram of schematics started to rise out of white pixels turning red. “The red indicates that. We set it up so that if Tim was in the Nest at a time when I tried to initiate this surveillance sequence, he would have the ability to stop me at will.” 

 

They waited as the sensors in Tim’s Nest scanned and relayed information back to the Smart WayneTable. The inside of a place that they had never seen before, but all held extremely mixed emotions about, took shape completely in miniature on the table. 

 

“No life forms. As I suspected; Tim is not at his Nest.” Bruce said grimly. His eyes scanned all along the miniaturized version of the place he had helped built and swore never to step inside of, unless there was absolutely no other choice. This was the step Tim insisted he take before ‘ _ no other choice _ ’. His bird valued privacy above all else. 

 

“It’s different that I thought it would be, Father.” Damian said, from his side. Dick glanced down at him, wondering what Damian had envisioned the Nest to be. To his fault, for all that he hated the thought of the place, he had never envisioned it before.  

 

“How so?” Bruce asked, arching an eyebrow.

 

“It was always referred to as a  _ Nest _ , I thought that it would be…”

 

“Ah, no. This isn’t actually Tim’s omegan nest. I believe the idea amused him when he was picking a moniker.” Bruce answered grimly. Tim’s brand of humor at the time had been especially merciless. 

 

Jason let out of a huff of defeated breath and leaned against the table, defeated and drawing all eyes. He was on the right side of the table which displayed Tim’s personal living quarters, and as such had been focused on Tim’s bedroom. “Oh yeah? Then what’s that?” he asked. He reached over and expanded the room, hearing a sharp inhale from Dick. 

 

“That’s a nest, old man.” Jason said, tightly. He folded his arms tightly over his chest just as Dick let his body fall into a controlled relaxed stance and breathed out deeply. 

 

It was unmistakably a nest. An incredibly lonely looking nest, one that looked reminiscent of the kind Omegas with no family or friends made. 

 

It was formed over Tim’s bed, which made sense as that was the only piece of furniture not chose for complete functionality while sacrificing comfort. There were five or six pillows scattered along the right side and one abandoned near the left, more towards the center. 

 

_ Probably from where he fell asleep alone holding it, _ Dick thought, the idea clenching itself around his heart in an iron grip.  

 

A few blankets lined the edges, creating a paltry border along the edges that rose up in pathetic mimicry of the normal peaked edges of an Omega’s nest. 

 

There were no clothes, nothing to scent, no jackets, no soft loved items, no furs, no stuffed animals made out of real fur;  _ nothing _ . It was the nest of someone that either had no idea how to make a nest, or someone that was incredibly lonely. 

 

“He made a nest.” Dick croaked, his tone voicing the feeling the were all having. He stared at the pitiful conglomerate of the barest bones and tried to tell himself that it was just a mess of blankets and pillows randomly organized. Maybe that was just how Tim slept. His Alpha sneered at him.

 

“That is problematic.” Bruce said, a tortured look in his eyes that usually only appeared when any one of them had gotten hurt beyond the expected bruises from a night out. The Bat was most definitely doing some serious self flagellation, but Dick found that he couldn’t get past the waves of distress overwhelming him to comfort the man. 

 

“Fuck.” Jason said, banging a fist down through the pixels, “Makes a lot of sense why Babybird won’t stay  _ put _ . He made a nest  _ somewhere else _ , says a lot ‘bout what he thinks of us an’ our promises of safety.” Fucking Tim. All he had to do was put down a nest here. Just one measly nest. Jason would defend the  _ shit  _ out of it. Prove to him how well he could take care of him. But no, of course not; Babybird had to be  _ difficult _ .  

 

“We...must focus on the real issue.” Damian finally said somberly, reaching over and returning Tim’s nest within the Nest back to its miniscule size with a pinch of his fingers. “Where is Drake?” 

 

“Right.” Bruce said hoarsely, clearing his throat, “Right. We need to focus up. Look for any clues that might tell us what Tim has been up to for the past few days. After that we take it to the streets, lay down some groundwork for-...Damian what are you doing?” 

 

Damian had leaned forward, staring intently at the holographic structure. He reached towards the interactive hologram, let Dick move in closer without complaint, and started to shuffle pixels. 

 

“What is  _ that _ ?” 

 

There, in miniaturized perfection, was a heavily used lab work table. Different chemical mixtures sat alongside notes that they couldn’t make out, with scattered tools all along the workbench. 

 

“I think...could it be from when he found the cure? And just didn’t clean up?” Dick said finally, narrowing his eyes and trying to get a read on what chemicals Tim had apparently been playing mad scientist with. 

 

Unfortunately, despite how good the scanners were, there were some details that they did not pick up. Tim’s handwriting was one of them. 

 

“It’s...possible.” Bruce said. He did not sound as if that was the case. Dick watched him as his eyes tracked over the various flasks grew tighter and tighter. 

 

Something was even more wrong than they had thought. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim was playing possum. It was honestly incredibly easy to do when one was not wearing Red Robin. Apparently people expected Omegas to faint from stress and stay that was for long periods of time. Go figure. 

 

Or maybe his thugs were just the special kind of stupid. 

 

Using the same tactic that he had just used days before with Dick and Jason, Tim inhaled deeply, making it look as if he was sighing in his sleep, trying to figure out where they had taken him. Unlike before, however, sharp scents didn’t stun him. There were one or two peaked scents indicating alpha frustration. He could smell the thugs off to the side, not too much omegan enhancements needed for that; they clearly did not believe in personal hygiene. Other than those few, there was mostly the smell of dampened ground and wet. 

 

It was as if the scent markers were washed away. Tim froze. 

 

Washed away. Why was that…? Washed away. 

 

Washed….

 

It hit him. Jason had made an offhand note of it on the shared map, and Tim had scanned over it and then dismissed it at the time.  _ The Chemist liked to work near water _ . 

 

Every single warehouse that Time, Dick, and Jason had taken out so far had been bordering some type of water front. They had tried to triangulate to see if that would come to anything, but there were too many possibilities. Was it possible that these idiots had taken Tim straight to the main lab? 

 

And if so,  _ why _ ? 

 

Apparently, to find out, he would have to engage, as it seemed as if the thugs were content to let him sleep for as long as he wanted. Tim cracked his eyes open, it took a second for him to adjust and then he was immediately perplexed. 

 

In front of him, through the bars of the cage he was in, was a waterfall some fifty meters away. But it was pushing through a rock formation which meant...Tim sat up and looked around grimly. They were underground. A glance around showed sewage pipes placed at various locations, both above and at ground level. Tim memorized their locations and worked out which would be best suited to use for escape. 

 

Away from the waterfall, towards the right was a lab lit up in bright lights. It looked sterile and more massive than any that Tim had managed to shut down before. Straining to see if he could get a closer look at the chemicals, Tim craned his head and then forced himself to let out the scream that he had instinctively smothered when a boot kicked against the grate of his cage. 

 

The Alpha looking down at him laughed. Tim stared up at him in shock, wondering how it was possible that he hadn't smelled the man.   

 

“So yer ‘wake. That’s good, though you was gunna sleep forever. Was gunna personally wake you up pretty boy.” The thug leered down at him. Tim resisted the urge to sneer. 

 

He whimpered and let his eyes grow big and teary instead. “Where am I? Please let me go, I just want to go home.” he pleaded. 

 

The alpha crouched down in front of his cage and Tim did his best to stifle his wish that the bars weren’t there. This one was going down first if he had any say in it. 

 

“Pretty boy. Save yer beggin’ for  _ later _ .” He said, grabbing at his crotch. Tim didn’t have to fake jerking back as far as possible from the disgusting man. He did have to fake the terrified expression that was begging to become a threatening one. 

 

“That’s quite enough.” Said a voice from just beyond Tim’s sight, mildly. “Please go join the others and take the next shipment out.” 

 

The Alpha crouched for a second or two longer before winking at Tim and rolling his his feet easily. Tim stared at him with petrified eyes, making clinical mental notes of the various weapons he had on him and the faintest hitch in his step. He fought the maniac smile off his face. 

 

Footsteps rounded the back of his cage until he saw legs encased in grey pantsuit walk into view at his side. The mystery man walked to the front of Tim’s cage, paused, and then crouched down the same way the Alpha had before. 

 

Tim was immediately speechless. 

 

“Hello.” The man said pleasantly. 

 

“You...you’re an  _ omega _ .” Tim said, allowing the shock to leak into his voice. 

 

The man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Very good! Perhaps my blockers are wearing off, yes? Or your nose is exceptional!” Tim noted the barest hint of an accent he couldn't place, and filed it away. 

 

He forced himself to stay in the mindset of terrified omega, and asked; 

 

“Are you with them? Can you please tell them to let me go? I think there’s been a mistake, I just really want to go home.” He inched closer to the man and away from the back wall. Omegas had an instinctive trust towards each other, one that Bruce had trained out of Tim for mission related reasons. Didn’t mean he couldn't  _ pretend  _ when the situation called for it. 

 

The other omega smiled at him. Tim’s skin crawled. 

 

“Ah, I would. You are good omega, yes?” Tim nodded profusely, eyes shining as if he had found his savior, “Alas, my dear I cannot. You are very important to me. I will need you to be a very good omega for me.” 

 

“But why?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, he hastily added, “What is it that you need? Can I just give it to you and then go home? Please, I just want to go home.” 

 

In hindsight, his helpless omega persona really needed to work on phrasing. 

 

“My dear. You  _ will  _ give it to me. But in due time. Ah, please do not make that face, you ruin such beautiful features with your sorrow.” 

 

“I just...what do you want?” Tim asked, doing nothing to stem the flow of distress emanating from his body. Emotional manipulation usually didn't work on other omegas, but this one had said that he was coming off blockers. 

 

Blockers stemmed the part of an Omega’s brain that let them know when they were being scent manipulated. It was a shot in the dark really. 

 

“Ah, I promise it will be nothing you can’t give,” The man said soothingly, “I need...a volunteer. Or lets say test subject? I am trying to create the perfect suppressant. You will help. The others before you were not..adequate. I have faith that you will be.” 

 

Tim swallowed against the wave of bile that rose in his throat. What others? And how  _ many _ ?

 

“The perfect suppressant?” Tim asked, voice barely a whisper. 

 

The man nodded encouragingly, “Yes. We omegas have to stick together yes? I want to help all of our brethren rise up from this stifled mockery of freedom we are being forced to live in.” 

 

Tim let his eyes widen in pretend shock, “It’s  _ you _ . I’ve read about you in the papers. You’re the guy making the suppressants that are killing all those people!” He pushed back against the back of the cage again, letting distress cloud the air. 

 

The man in front of him sighed and looked at him with an almost disappointed expression. 

 

“I am not, as you say ‘ _ killing those people _ ’. I have provided a service. I did not say that it would be  _ free _ .” 

 

“You said you wanted to help! How can you say you are helping if you inflate prices and let people die off of the drugs you are supplying?” 

 

“My, My. You have done your reading.” The man said, staring at him shrewdly. 

 

Tim stared back resolute. Perhaps his line of questioning was not fitting perfectly with Helpless Omega, but he had to know. 

 

“Well. Alright little omega, listen carefully. I will tell you truths about the world now, yes? In this society capitalism reigns victor over all else. The Alpha knows this. The Alpha plays along with this game. For the omega to move ahead, we must prove that we can survive in the same world that the Alpha does. My suppressants are merely the catalyst that divide the omegas that can withstand the transition and those who cannot.” 

 

“Capitalism only works for the rich.” Tim whispered. “You are killing off all the omegas that are not able to afford your suppressant.” 

 

“Omegas that are unable to afford that which they want are not the kind that will be helpful for our masterace. Those that are without influence and power to help themselves cannot be expected to help others. For that, I have created a suppressant that will help us extripate this problem.” 

 

“You’re mad,” Tim said, genuinely horrified. The man was trying to create some kind of  _ omega master race _ . By committing capitalistic genocide. 

 

The man surged to his feet and walked towards the lab. He lifted a white lab coat off the back of a chair and shrugged it on. Not turning back around, he said;

 

“Perhaps I am. But that is what they said about all the great heroes, yes?” 

 

“What do you want with  _ me _ ?” Tim asked, done playing games. Something in his voice must have alerted the man to a change, becuase he slowly spun around on his heel and appraised Tim. 

 

“You...you will help me create the drug to expedite my work, little omega.” The Chemist said, smiling down at him, “You will be a great help to me and others! Together we will work to end the suffering of those not worthy quicker, see? I am merciful.” 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
  


Dick gritted his teeth as another lead fell through. He double clicked on his comms and let the rest of the crew know that this area of the docks was no good and then cast a line to keep moving. 

 

They were canvassing. Literally combing the docks for any clue they could find because Tim had apparently disappeared off the face of the planet without leaving a single clue. 

 

Dick didn’t know whether to be proud or pissed. If-  _ when-  _ he found him Tim would be having a very long talk. Dick would even use simple words. Very simple, unambiguous words, since they apparently were never on the same page anymore. 

 

Dick had rehearsed the conversation in his head many times. For some reason, even within his own mind there were different outcomes; sometimes Tim leapt into his arms with tears of joy. Sometimes he stormed off. In one, Tim ended up confessing undying love for Superboy. That one had been a nightmare Dick had, after staying up longer than advised and then some. 

 

In every scenario, there was one thing that didn’t change; Dick confessed outright. It had been the one thing he hadn’t done. He had taken Tim through his heats, held him as he shook after, was there for him  _ literally  _ during sickness and health, but he somehow managed to do all that and not get across the one thing that mattered the most. 

 

He loved Tim. 

 

He was _ in love _ with Tim. 

 

And now Tim was gone, and he had no way of knowing if the young omega was even alive, or if he knew that Dick was searching for him; that he was taking solace in the fact that his family was on their way. 

 

But Dick was going to tell him. He was going to tell him all of it. As soon as he found him.

 

There had been a moment, back in the cave when he had felt all hope was lost. Jason had pointed out Tim’s lonely nest and he had thought that that was it. It was over and done with because there was a clear marker that Tim did not have any intention of joining the pack. 

 

But then he had taken a closer look at the nest. It had been so utterly  _ lonely _ . It was the nest of someone unloved, or someone who thought they were unloved. Someone who didn’t know that they had other people that cared about them. 

 

It was a nest that was Tim in its very essence. And Dick couldn’t stand for that. 

 

He had made mistakes; he acknowledged that freely. But then one thing he could always say in his defense was that he never intentionally excluded Tim; never wanted the little bird to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. 

 

It was why with every chance he got, he chased Tim down. Forced himself into the smaller man's life over and over again because that was the only way he could show Tim what he meant. 

 

When he had seen the nest he had almost given up. But then he realized that if he gave up, it would mean that Tim would spend the rest of his life in a desolate nest, with only a pillow to hug the nightmares away. 

 

And Dick was not going to have that, than you very much. 

 

So he was chasing down his Babybird. And he was going to bring him home. 

 

He jumped to the next rooftop and continued the search. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

 

Jason had been the one to talk to Kon. 

 

Dick had paced restlessly in the background as Kon told them, with a frown, that he had left Tim at the docks a few days back. He hadn't heard from him since. Kon had offered to help, growing alarmed when he said that he couldn’t pinpoint Tim’s heartbeat or voice. 

 

Jason steadfastly refused to read into Kon’s inability to locate Tim; the super was still young. He was still developing his abilities. 

 

Jason also refused to think about how he had seen Tim call for Kon once in a mission they had abroad and the super had shown up. It didn’t matter. Tim was  _ alive _ . 

 

He would know if anything happened otherwise. Unlike Kon, Jason felt connected to Tim in a different way. He, unlike Dick, had been well aware of the pack bond that between Dick, himself, and Tim from the very beginning. He knew the second it formed because the Pit’s madness reared back and became blissfully silent. There had been a wave of calm that Jason hadn’t experienced since the moments before his death, when he had accepted what was to come. 

 

He still felt the calm. 

 

He still felt the calm and therefore Tim was alive. 

 

He heard the double click from Dick over the comms and moved to the next location 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tim tracked The Chemist with narrowed eyes, filled with tears as he still had to keep up appearances. The Chemist probably believed that he was keeping him in sights because he was terrified. 

 

Tim was actually mentally taking notes of what The Chemist’s process to create suppressants. The man might be crazy, but that didn’t mean Tim didn’t have to get nothing out of this while he waited. 

 

He had pressed the homing beacon attached to his leg fifteen minutes ago. Mental calculations let him know that, even if they were at the furthest point in Gotham, his rescuer would be arriving in about fifteen, max. 

 

He just had to wait it out and make sure the lunatic in front of him didn’t get injection happy. 

 

He had made the decision to let himself get rescued because he couldn’t risk The Chemist getting away while he made his own escape. Pride had no place when other people’s lives were at stake. Plus, all he had to do was sit and wait it out, while occasionally sniffling and forcing himself to tear up. Humiliating, but harmless. 

 

As The Chemist worked, he hummed a songless tune. It was a somewhat happy sound, as if its maker wasn’t working to make a drug that was already killing people _ more efficient _ . 

 

The man had said that the less fortunate omegas weren’t  dying fast enough. It made Tim wonder what the end goal was; why was The Chemist so hell bent on creating his master race quicker? What was the point? 

 

He glanced around for clues, but most of the activity that he could see was happening at the lab in front of him. Besides the lab and the waterfall, he could see little else due to the cage. It annoyed him, but his training as Red Robin came in use and Tim took a deep breath before extending his senses. 

 

Nearly all sound was drowned out by the rushing of the waterfall above them. But there were deep shouts and the distinct clang of metal that got through the white noise. He could hear men shout at each other indistinctly somewhere to his back left and made a note of it. They appeared to be coordinating a shipment from the sounds of the voices shouting back and forth, but Tim had no way of knowing for sure. He listened for as long as he could, as hard as he could anyway; you never know. 

 

Eventually he mapped out a tentative escape route, going by the way the men's voices seemed to fade in certain directions and get strong in others. No he wasn't a bat, and couldn’t echolocate. But he was a  _ Bat _ . 

 

His nose told him that there were either living quarters nearby, or the men here spent an inordinate amount of time hanging around. Somehow thought, the scents smelled stale. As if they had tried to fade away, but lingered because they had been caught in a jar. Tim internally frowned to himself, that was definitely something to look into later. 

 

He turned his attention back the The Chemist, just in time to see the man pour a sickeningly opaque purple concoction into a cooling vial. None of the suppressants Tim had ever made had been that color. Or had that opacity. 

 

The Chemist glanced at him and saw him looking. The man smiled and took it as an invitation to venture closer again. 

 

“You are feeling better, yes?” He asked. Tim was thrown for a moment, and then remembered that he had faked a panic attack earlier. He had needed a way to make it seem natural when he was jerking around the cage to clock all angles. He needed as much information as possible and that had been the only way to do it without making it obvious what he was doing. 

 

“I am.” Tim said, affecting a persona that was blatantly terrified, while trying to appear outwardly brave. 

 

“That is good. I was thinking we must give you something to relax, but I am glad that is not the case. I would hate to have mixed results with the suppressant.” 

 

Well damn, that purple stuff was going in him. Now Tim wished he  _ had  _ jerked around a bit more. 

 

“Please don’t do this.” He tried. The man waved a hand through the air, dismissing him entirely. 

 

“You must understand, yes? This is larger than you or I. We are part of something bigger that will save us all. Someday they will thank you for your sacrifice.” 

 

“You’re the one that doesn’t understand! We are all the same, money doesn’t mean anything; it doesn’t make you who you are.” Tim said pleadingly, mind working fast to see if he had missed any signs of a bigger problem than just a man with a few screws loose. 

 

The Chemist tutted at him. “Not money, dear one. Status. Connection. Exclusivity. These are the things that matter. These are the things that will help us rise.” 

 

“They  _ wont- _ ...” Tim started to argue, but was cut off by The Chemist moving back towards the lab again. 

 

“Enough of this. You will understand someday. But fortunately understanding does get in my way of testing.” The mad man said, pulling out a syringe and disinfecting it. Tim watched with a locked jaw as the man placed the needle into the cooled vial and pulled out a full dose. He placed the vial back on the cooling rack and walked back to Tim. 

 

Tim, whose heart was starting to beat louder as realization dawned on him. 

 

“It is time, dear one, for you to make your mark on the work.” 

 

His internal clock was never wrong. It had been more than 15 minutes. Way more than 15 minutes.

 

No one was coming for him. 


End file.
